High School Musical: Best Wishes
by ThatWolfBoy
Summary: East High, school year 2006-2007. In September Troy Bolton is just an ordinary teen boy who excells in basketball with his best friend Chad Danforth. Ryan Evans is an aspiring choreographer following his sister Sharpay to the top. Will the two boys break free before the New Year?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey guys! I hope I'm doing this right. This is my first submission on here. This is chapter one if my first HSM fic, which should have at least 11 chapters. It is Tryan and takes place before Gabriella shows up. I have -no- clue on how to do anything in here, so any and all help would be appreciated. Thank you, and enjoy!

A mop of unruly brown hair jolted forward as the young boy was rudely, although necessarily, awakened. He had a bad habit of forgetting to set his alarm clock.

"C'Mon, Troy! It's time to wake up. It's a big day!" His father said, with three more pounds on the door. Every day was a big day according to the athlete's father. But oh, that's right. It actually kind of was, it being the first day of a new school year.

Troy groggily shook his head, and relished in the feeling of his bare feet hitting the plush carpet. A slow attempt was made to reach his closet. He pulled out his favourite red and white long sleeved shirt, some blue jeans, fresh boxers and socks.

'Gotta show my wildcat pride on the first day!' Troy thought, with a small smile, and he quickly got dressed and brushed his shaggy brown hair.

He made his way downstairs, and received a warm smile from his mother.

"Hey, honey. Sleep well? I just put some bread in the toaster, would you like some?" She asked, putting away a bag if white bread. Troy stopped at the kitchen table, resting his hands on the back of a wooden chair. He smiled back at the older woman and nodded.

"Morning, mom. Yeah, you know me; I always sleep like a bear."

"He always snores like one, too." His father said, jokingly, coming from the living room.

"Hey, Troy, don't forget about the team tryouts on Thursday. I know you're bound to make it." He continued, patting his son on the shoulder.

"You know I wouldn't miss it for the world, dad." Troy replied with a hint of awkwardness. His father was always on his back about basketball. He considered him a "star player". Troy always thought it was because his dad was the coach. He was partially right.

"Great, I'll catch you two later." Troy and Mrs. Bolton said cheery goodbyes to the older man. And with that, the head Bolton left the early morning home to his work. Warm toast popped from the toaster with a click.

"Oh, sweet, toast!" remarked Troy, over enthusiastically. Mrs. Bolton gave him an adoring look as she sat down a plate holding two pieces of toast. Small crunches could be heard as Troy ate one of the pieces. A horn honked in front of the house. Troy jumped in the middle of a bite.

"Crap!" He exclaimed, grabbing the other piece of toast, and his book bag from under the table. He quickly tied his shoes and mumbled a "g'bye" to his mom while holding the half eaten piece of toast between his teeth. His mother waved to him as he boarded the bus to school.

—

Troy and Chad exchanged brotherly pats and hand shakes as the brunette boy sat next to his best friend on the noisy bus. Chad gratefully accepted the piece of toast Troy offered him.

"Hey, thanks man." Chad said with a grin.

"Yeah, no problem." Replied Troy, waving it off. The seats on the bus were small and cramped, so book bags sat on the laps of its passengers. Chad's book bag, however, was crammed under his legs, and on his lap sat a bright orange basketball.

"So overall your summer was pretty good?" Chad asked, nearly finished with his piece of toast.

"Oh yeah, you know. Mostly just playing hoops with my dad, and sleeping in until my dad wants to play hoops again. ...And working on that summer reading project. " Troy finished his statement with a look of detest. His best friend closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"You forgot to do that assignment, didn't you?" Troy asked. He already knew the answer. Chad nodded, and Troy's stomach did a back flip. The boys wouldn't be able to finish their breakfast at this news.

"C'mon, man. You know you have to have all passing grades in order to be eligible to try out for the team! We're always on the team together." Troy let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair.

"I know, dude, I'll do it. It's not due until tomorrow, anyway." Chad shrugged his shoulders. He's always behind on homework, this isn't any different. He could get it done in time, right? Troy looked at Chad doubtfully.

"You sure, Chad? We're always on the team together, and if we're not because you forgot to do some dumb assignment-"

"Yeah, I said I'll do it! Geez, you sound as worse as your dad." Chad interrupted angrily, his voice rising. Troy averted his gaze to his book bag.  
"Sorry." He mumbled. The two boys sat in silence for the rest of the ride, choosing to listen to the chattering of other students instead.

'Chad's right, I should have layed off. I did sound as worse as my dad...' Troy pondered, fiddling with the straps of his book bag. He checked his class schedule. He had the drama teacher, Mrs. Darbus, for home room this year.

So did Chad.

—

The yellow Albuquerque school bus screached to a halt in front of East High. Other kids and teachers could be seen herding towards the inside of the large brick building. Cars of teachers and students alike scattered the parking lot. However, there was only one vehicle in the row closest to the school. Sharpay Evans' bright pink convertible sat there, and no one else dared to get close to anything the 'Ice Queen' owned or claimed possession of.

Troy and Chad silently left the bus, only smiling or talking to their other friends like Zeke or Jason. The jocks buzzed loudly about their sports filled summer vacation.

"Hey, I hope all of you have been pracing your moves this summer, 'cuz we're all gonna make the team this year and kick butt all the way to the championship!" Zeke said excitedly. Troy shot Chad a look. Zeke took the opportunity to steal Chad's ball, and dribbled around other students, staying out of Chad's reach.

"Hey, man, that's my ball! Give me my ball back!" Chad said, grinning, running after Zeke playfully while his ball was being tossed from friend to friend.

"Is everything cool with you and Chad?" Jason spoke up. Troy snapped out of his daze.

"Yeah, man. You can bet on it." Troy put on a small fake smile.

"Well alright." Jason shrugged and joined the rest of his friends. Troy continued to trek on through the crowd and into the school.

Classmates pushed their way to their lockers and homerooms, some even formed small groups at the edges of hallways. The Evans twins didn't have that problem. Crowds split apart for Sharpay, with her brother Ryan following suite. They had plenty of admirers flock to their lockers, wondering if summer break was as fabulous as them. Sharpay brushed them off like scum, while Ryan tried to genuinely talk with some students once or twice.

Sharpay walked confidently from her locker to the locker of a much smaller girl.

"Kelsi!" The blonde shrieked. Kelsi jumped, nearly dropping her papers and binders. She fixed her glasses before making eye contact with the popular girl. Ryan shifted slightly.

"Oh! Um, hi Sharpay. Ryan. ...How was your summer?" She asked the twins quietly. Ryan managed to wave to her with a smile before being interrupted by his sister.

"My summer was fabulous. As always. Now, did you do what I asked you to?" Sharpay's words became quicker and louder. Kelsi looked at the ground awkwardly before fishing through her binder to find the desired document.

"Here, Sharpay... And if you have any questions or-" Kelsi was stopped short by a zzp sound from Sharpay.

"Oh how nice of you! Toodles!" Brown eyes rolled in the popular girl's head as she quickly yanked the small stack of typed paper from the hands of the small brunette. Kelsi received a sympathetic look from Ryan. The twins carried on their way.

"You know, Shar," Ryan said in her ear, "that is cheating, and if you get caught-"

"Oh please, Ryan." She scoffed, strutting her stuff as people moved out of her way. "We'll be seniors next year. And I'm so close to being a star. When you're on top, you can just have peasants do things for you. Besides, stars don't have time for English assignments." Sharpay stated as-a-matter-of-factly. Both of the twins faces lit up as they found what they were looking for, but only one of them did anything to prove it.

"Troy! Troy, it's so great to see you!" Sharpay squealed as she scurried to the athlete's locker.

"Uh, hey,... Sharpay." Troy waved weakly, putting a fake smile on his face for the second time that day. Sharpay got dangerously close to the other boy.

"Troy! Tell me, wasn't your summer fabulous?" The blonde girl beamed.

"Oh yeah, it was really... Fabulous." He replied awkwardly, glancing at Ryan. Sharpay squealed happily and placed a manicured hand on the tan boy's arm.

"We're even both showing our school pride today! We match!" Sharpay started to wave her hands frantically near her face as if she was over heating. Her smile grew wider and more devious. Troy took in the appearance of the twins. Sharpay was right, they did mach. She was sporting a red pencil skirt, with white high heels and a white crop top. A lightweight red scarf hung around her neck and a red hand bag jingled with various make up supplies. Her male counterpart was looking great in white skinny jeans and a red dress shirt. A red fedora with a black ribbon sat slightly crooked upon his head. Ryan's black dress shoes shown across the floor in its reflection.

"So, I can count on you being on the basketball team this year, right" Sharpay looked up at Troy with an attempt at puppy eyes. Troy nearly choked.

"Oh yeah, totally, Sharpay. You know me, I'm 'the basketball guy'." Troy chuckled lightly while Sharpay let out a sour giggle.

"You know Troy, you and I are both so dedicated. ... It's like we're meant to be!" The blonde diva played with her hair while staring creepily at 'the basketball guy'. Both boys accompanying her wanted to gag. Suddenly, the bell rang. Troy was glad and rushed to homeroom.

'It's always so weird when she's so touchy-feely.' Troy thought as he walked to Mrs. Darbus' room, and unfortunately not any further from Sharpay. He turned sour as he saw the diva strut into the room. Ryan sat a few seats away from Troy, directly behind his twin, and it was oddly warm in the room to the young tan boy. Chad tapped him on the shoulder.

—

"Alright, people! Happy Monday, and, happy first day of school!" Mrs. Darbus shouted from the front of the room, punctuating her final word by hitting her desk with a ruler to get the attention of sleepy students.

"I am Mrs. Darbus, your homeroom teacher for this year. I am also head of the drama department here at East High. Speaking of which, the summer musical will be well on its way the next few weeks. The sign up sheet is in the main lobby for those interested." Sharpay and Ryan exchanged smug looks.

"We will also be accepting candidates for class president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer at this time until the end of the month. Sports season is also upon us, and might I remind you, it is best for you to turn in all your work on time, Mr. Danforth." The drama teacher hits the desk of Chad, who had been previously day dreaming, with a ruler.

Chad looks away, embarrassed, while some students snicker. Troy does his best not to crack a smile.

The eccentric teacher continues on with important notifications and reminders for the students. Jason, who sat in the back if the classroom asked what was for lunch. Chad mentions to Troy that he was thinking about skipping free period to work on the English assignment. Troy gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. The students are eager to go to their next class when the bell rings.

Shuffling hurriedly, classmates quickly piled up around the door. All of the bustling caused Ryan's hat to slip off of his blond head. Just as quickly, the hat was in his hands, thanks to Troy, who was able to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Wow, thanks, Troy! Great catch." The skinny blond boy smiled at the the athlete.

"Yeah, no problem, Ryan" He returned the smile, maybe a bit too much. Chad pretended not to know Troy.

—

As the day went on, Troy and his friends were getting bored of school once again. They could only really look forward to practice. And lunch. All the different cliches sat at their own tables. Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason, and several other jocks sat down at their table. Zeke was the only one out of the group who brought a bagged lunch. While everyone at his table was eating greasy school pizza and cartoned milk, the tall basketball player helped himself to a toasted sandwich, home baked cookies, and juice that was prepared that morning.

Jason took the liberty of trying one of Zeke's cookies. Never in his life had he tasted something so... Unique. He was surprised and curious as to where his friend got the sweets.

"Woah, Zeke." Jason's eyebrows rose as he took a bite. " These cookies are really awesome. Where did you get 'em?" Zeke shifted uncomfortablely in his seat.

"Oh, um... My mom made them! Yeah, she made all this stuff." He replied, quickly.

"Your mom still makes your lunch?" Chad chimed in. "No offense, dude, but that's kind of lame." The bushy haired boy took a cookie as well, and in between bites said "... But extremely satisfying."

—

Before Troy knew it, his first day was over and everyone was rushing out of the building. The Evans twins managed to have a note to leave school early, which wasn't really surprising to Troy. He was glad he didn't have to deal with Sharpay until the next day.

Under all the murmers of students and teachers, Troy could hear a pop song being played over the loud speaker. It was really catchy, so he started to hum along. He felt his flesh nearly leave his skin in a single bound as Chad suddenly got his attention with a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey, man, were you just humming?" Chad asks with a glare. Troy nervously rubs the back of his neck.

"Um, no, man. That's... Silly. Why would I even do that?" Even though they're brothers, from other mothers, Troy is able to sneak little white lies past Chad sometimes.

"Wow, thank god. Your guess is as good as mine. If you were even humming, next you'd be singing and prancing around. That Evans guy would show you his hat collection, and Sharpay would make you one of her poodles- preforming in musicals!" Chad shuttered. Guts were twisting inside of Troy.

"Yeah, relax, man. That won't happen." Troy couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

—

Leaves rustled in the wind around the Bolton's back yard. Rubber smacked against concrete as the youngest family member dribbled around his personal court. His dad was happy to play with him when he got home from work. They dribbled and shot baskets and ran around until Troy passed his limit. Troy's muscles screamed as he slowly went up the stairs, one by one. He wanted to just pass out on his bed right there, but he knew that a hot shower would help sooth his muscles.

Steam quickly filled his small bathroom. Little drops of water pelted his tan skin. A tune flooded his head. Piano notes, a song. The song from earlier. Troy began to sing, and in that moment he didn't care if anyone heard him.

" We'll do it all  
Everything  
On our own

We don't need  
Anything  
Or anyone

If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lay with me, and just forget the world?

I don't quite know  
How to say  
How I feel

Those three words  
Are said too much  
They're not enough."

In those moments, Troy Bolton knew his life would never be the same.


	2. Chapter 2

Troy helped Chad with his English assignment during free period, lunch, and even after school on Monday and Tuesday. They stayed motivated by playing basketball at Troy's house when Chad would finish a chapter or a paragraph. Come free period on Wednesday, with almost five pages of essay, Chad was nearly done. Troy continuously slid a thin copy of "The Chatcher In The Rye" across the library table at which the two boys sat, while his friend typed furiously away on his laptop.

"But I don't understand why the guy would get a whore and then just talk to her." The bushy haired boy stated, lightly moving his hands in front of him for emphasis. His fellow eleventh grader chuckled.

"It was a different time, I guess, man. I mean, he just wanted somebody to talk to." Crinkles formed in Troy's shirt as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Then he should have gotten a counselor." Chad replied with a roll of his eyes. Counselor.

'Shit, that's right!' Troy jumped up at his realization and started to rush out of the room.

"Hey man, where're you goin'?" Chad questioned, no longer typing.

"Counselor's office!" Troy shouted over his shoulder. "You keep typing, I'll see you after school!"

"Alright man, whatever you say." Chad replied, earning a strict 'shh!' from the librarian, Mrs. Falstaff, and returned to his work.

—

Troy walked briskly to the Counselor's office, and on his way noticed Sharpay walking towards him, wiggling her fingers as a wave. He practically swollowed vomit.

"Hi, Troy! Where are you headed in such a hurry?" Her voice like artificial sweetener.

"Oh, you know, Counselor's office. Gotta set up college stuff." The brunette replied while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I already had my appointment with her. I'll be going to University of Albuquerque. If I don't get into Juliard. Which I know I'll definitely get into Juliard. They save the best for the best, you know." stated nonchalantly by the blonde.

"That's great. Uh...I gotta go!" He replied, and jogged past his admirer. Sharpay scowled when he didn't even try to return her enthusiastic 'Toodles!'.

The door creeked as Troy let himself into the office of the counselor, Ms. Meeker. He did his best to keep his composure.

"Oh, Troy, you did decide to show up after all. How nice of you, take a seat." She gestured to a large cushioned chair in front of her desk, her long red hair shifting slightly as she did so. The athlete smiled awkwardly and sat down. This was Ms. Meeker's first year as a counselor at East High, and Troy was usually much better at making first impressions.

"So, your father is the basketball coach here at East High?" She asked, even though everyone already knew so.

"Yes, ma'am. He's a great coach. I'm always on the team... I mean, not because he's my dad, but because he pushes me to do my best everytime. He's even going to help me get a scholarship for U of A next year." Troy fiddled with his thumbs as the young woman wrote something down in her notepad.

"University of Albuquerque, huh? You know, Troy, I see kids like you every year go to college for sports and somewhere down the line they end up with a bad leg or arm and their career is done just like that. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't try to get that scholarship. I just want you to know that there are more options than that. I printed out a list of other schools that might have programmes you're interested in."

Troy quickly skimmed the list. 'Anthropology, Computer Science, Forestry, Linguistics, Theatre...' Were just a few. Most of the universities were scattered all around the country. Troy was taken aback and rubbed his neck nervously.

"Um...Ms. Meeker, no offense, but I'm not interested in any of this stuff. A-and some of these schools are all the way in New York, California. I don't see myself leaving New Mexico for anything, and basketball is really my thing. " He had a lot more to say, but felt that his counselor knew what else was on his mind.

"I know change can be scary," She started "but you'll be surprised at how happy you'll be when you start to make choices for yourself. Eleventh grade is a year of experimentation for many students. You don't have to make your final decision now, just promise me you'll think a little bit more about that list. And don't forget, Troy, you can come into my office at any time if you ever want to talk about anything. " She gave Troy a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah...okay. Thanks, Ms. Meeker." The brunette boy shot around in his seat when he heard a knock on the door.

"Ah, yes. My last student appointment for the day." The red haired woman said happily with a smile. "Well, Troy, have a good day. Good luck at tryouts tomorrow. And when you leave, tell my other student that he can come in." She bid him farewell as the boy sat up from the chair, folding the list to put in his pocket.

"Thanks, you, too." Troy waved goodbye as he pushed open the door. He faced the door to shut it quietly and said to the other student " Ms. Meeker says you can go in now."

"Hey, Troy. Thanks." A familiar tenor voice responded. Troy turned around to see Ryan, wearing a sharp green outfit. The crooked, light green hat really brought out his eyes. Troy caught himself staring, a light blush creeped over his face. He wasn't religious or anything, but he prayed to all the gods he knew of as hard as he could that Ryan couldn't notice.

"Ryan, hey! Fancy meeting you here." The taller boy tried to contain his smile as he lifted his right hand in greeting. Ryan didn't miss a beat, and gave him an oddly sincere look.

"We could start anew here." The blond boy took a step towards the brunette. Deep blue pools met those of light blue. Troy felt his heart stop, he flicked his tongue out to wet his lower lip. 'Wait, what?'

"...It's from a musical." Ryan said suddenly. Oh, of course it was. He let out a light chuckle. "Anyway, Troy, Ms. Meeker is waiting. It was nice seeing you." A half smile broke across the blond's face as he pulled the door to the small office open.

"Yeah! I'll see you around. Bye. " Replied the athlete, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. He did his best at hiding a tempting smile as he exited into the main hallway.

—

Troy walked calmly to the library for the end of free period, saying hi to friends he passed on the way. He sat down at Chad's table while a whrring of a printer could be heard. His friend grinned at his achievement and placed a stack of papers, two centimeters thick, on the table.

"Woah, Chad! How many pages is that?" Troy asked, not hiding the surprise in his voice, which almost cracked.

"Eight and a half, my friend." He replied, beaming. Troy lightly chuckled

"Eight's always been your lucky number." Troy gave his best friend a pat on the back. The smile never left Chad's face, even as he put his laptop in his book bag. A loud ring filled the quiet library, signaling to the students that school was done for the day.

"Oh, hey man, I gotta drop this off in English. But I'll meet you at your locker asap, alright?" The curly haired boy said as he hurriedly got the rest if his things together in a jumble. The brunette had never seen his friend act this way over school work before.

"Sure, right on, man. See you later." Replied Troy, astounded. The two boys exchanged waves as the tall ambitious boy left the library quickly. The remaining athlete tried to hold back a laugh as his friend got scolded for running.

The young Bolton walked leisurely to his locker, through the bustle of students eager to leave the stuffy building. He effortlessly dialed his locker combination and the door opened with a click. He gathered up a folder and a couple of heavy text books for homework to do that night. A loud chorus of locker-door-slams filled the hallway, Troys included. As he was slipping his now heavy book bag on, he caught sight of Chad running again, this time towards him. As Chad got closer he began talking as fast as he was moving.

"Okay, so Mr. Dambinski said that he's giving me a seventy-five for handing it in late, but other than that it's perfect. That's a C and still passing, so I can still participate in tryouts tomorrow! " Chad said lividly. He and Troy did their special handshake as a mini celebration.

"Man, that's awesome! Great job, Chad. We should totally play some hoops at my place and stuff to celebrate. And get pizza. My dad'll be real happy to hear the news. But first..." Troy paused for a moment and took the opportunity to steal Chad's basketball. "Race you to the bus!" Troy said deviously, dribbling down the hallway.

"Oh come on!" Chad pretended to be upset, and boisterously chased after Troy. Why did everyone always have to take his ball?

"Last one to the bus buys the pizza!" Troy shouted playfully over his shoulder. The two boys chased each other to the bus, while taking turns stealing the ball.

—

"Hey, boys! You two look mighty energetic." Mrs. Bolton greeted the duo with a pleasant look on her face. "You guys hungry?"

"Hey, mom. Chad turned his English assignment in, so he can go to team tryouts tomorrow. I was thinking we could order a pizza." Stated a bit sheepishly by Troy, who had ultimately lost the race to the bus by tripping. Chad smirked. The older woman glanced suspiciously at the both of them.

"That's great, Chad, congratulations! Jack will be happy to hear the news. Does pepperoni sound good?" Lucille asked, tilting her head with her eyebrows raised.

"It sounds excellent." Troy and Chad replied in unison, before rushing to the backyard to play basketball.

The two boys played basketball for hours, even after they had pizza. Mr. Bolton returned from work just in time to have pizza with the boys and his wife.

"Wow, awesome job, Chad. That's my Troy, always being a team player and helping out. Even off the court. I'm proud of both of you." Mr. Bolton said between bites of pizza. Troy blushed and shrugged it off.

"No, dad, I didn't really do anything. I mean, it's what anyone else would do." The young brunette said bashfully. Chad patted his shoulder.

"Hey man, you so did. I totally owe you one." Troy's friend replied, finishing his fourth slice of pizza. Chatter continued throughout the meal, jokes and laughs being had frequently.

The couple of young athletes didn't stop playing their game until well after it got dark. Chad claimed he won, although Troy insisted they weren't keeping points.

"Boys, it's getting late, and, it's a school night." Mrs. Bolton said standing in the doorway to the back yard. "It's dark out, Chad would you like a ride home?"

"It's fine, Mrs. Bolton, I can walk. Thanks for the pizza." Chad replied, while taking his ball back from Troy. Troy and Chad bumped fists. "Hey, thanks man, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, no problem, dude, any time. You know that." Troy said with a smile. Mrs. Bolton was joined at the doorway by her husband.

"See you at tryouts tomorrow, Mr. Bolton" said Chad to the older man, while lightly throwing his ball in the air and catching it.

"Awesome, Chad, I know you'll impress me. Better give it your all tomorrow, okay?" The father asked, pointing at the young man. He was almost as hard on Chad with basketball as he was with his own son.

"Sure thing. Alright, see you all later." And with one final wave the bushy haired boy left the property. Mrs. Bolton headed inside, closing the door behind her.

"You know son, I'm real proud of you. That was a great thing you did for Chad, and for the team. I love a team player, and so do colleges." Troy's father said, placing a strong hand on the boy's shoulder. Troy was sick of his dad linking everything to college and basketball.

"Jeeze, dad, not everything has to be about college, or basketball! Can't I just sometimes be a good guy- just because? You know, at first I thought I was helping Chad out to get him on the team, but then I realized that we're not just team mates, we're friends. And that's what friends do. I would have done that for any of my friends, and I'd like to think that they would do that for me, too. Okay?" Halfway through his speach he shrugged his father's hand off. His hands were balled into fists. He didn't wait for his dad to reply, and frankly he didn't care if he wouldn't make the team for getting angry.

"See you at tryouts tomorrow." He mumbled, pushing past his dad, going inside.

—

The next morning Troy didn't see his father. He woke up early enough to get some extra ball practice in and finish breakfast in time for the bus. Chad saved his usual spot for him. Other than being a bit tired from staying up to do homework, it was turning out to be a good day for the tan boy.

Everyone was buzzing around like usual. Sharpay and Ryan Evans were wearing matching outfits like usual, and Troy and his jock friends were getting hyped up for tryouts during homeroom. The bell rang and students made their way to their first actual class. Troy had English with Chad and a handful of other students in his homeroom.

When Troy took his seat in English, he noticed something that was very unusual. Kelsi, who was normally very quiet and kept to herself, was out of her desk and talking with their teacher, Mr. Dambinski. Once she was dismissed, Troy saw how panicked she looked. Shortly after the bell rang, the lean teacher cleared his throat so as to signal that the students should be seated. The bearded man walked briskly until he reached the centre of the whiteboard in the front of the room.

"I hope all of you have turned in your summer reading assignments. They were due last class, and points get taken off for every that they are late. Today is the last day you will be able to receive a passing grade on this assignment." He looked at Chad, amusingly, continuing his spiel.

"Today in class, you will be paired up to talk about 'The Catcher In The Rye'. You and your partner will then create a poster including main ideas, characterization, etcetera. Next class you will be expected to present your poster to the class with your partner. " Quiet chatter quickly broke out throughout the room about who wanted to pair with whom. Chad and Troy glanced at each other excitedly. Mr. Dambinski took a deep breath.

"Your partners have already been decided for you." he said triumphantly. The class groaned with disappointment. The teacher began to walk around the room, placing a piece of paper on each desk. "Right now I am handing out the guideline and poster requirements. You should find the name of your partner on the top lefthand corner of your paper. Please read through the guideline silently and then meet up with your partner. You have the rest of the class to work on the poster and discuss the book. You can find poster board next to my desk. Since this is a big project, you are all expected to work on it outside of class." By the end of his elocution, Mr. Dambinski was back at his desk.

Troy looked down at his paper, his eyes searching rapidly for the name of his partner. 'Ryan Evans' it said. Troy turned around to face Chad, silently wondering who his friend was partnered up with. 'Sharpay' Chad mouthed with a look of disgust. Troy stifled a laugh and pretended to gag. After reading over the guideline twice, Troy searched for Ryan from his desk. He spotted him almost immediately, by his purple fedora. The Drama King noticed and gave him a nod to invite him over. The brunette grabbed his guideline, a pencil, and a notebook and headed over to Ryan's desk. Troy lifted the desk in front of Ryan's with ease and turned it so that they were facing each other. Troy took pride in being able to lift the entire desk without making it screech against the ground.

"So, um..." Troy stated awkwardly, breaking the silence. He skimmed over the guideline once more.

"How about I focus on plot and characterization, and you focus on vocabulary and main events that happened in the book, okay?" Ryan suggested. Troy lit up up at the idea. Together they wrote rough drafts of their assigned parts, going over it with one another. Ryan eventually offered to go up and grab a piece of poster board.

"Yeah, sure. I'm ready if you are. ...For the poster, I mean." Troy responded rubbing the back of his neck, trying to hide a blush that dusted his face. Ryan smiled and walked graciously to the front of the room, Troy turned around in his seat to look at his partner and was met with a sight. The posters were just low enough so that Ryan had to bend over ever so slightly to grab a poster board.

'Damn.' Thought Troy, as he witnessed the curves and creases changing in the denim as Ryan bent down. Troy turned around quickly as the blond made his way back to his desk. Troy pretended to look over his notes as the red of his face deepend.

"Are you okay, Troy" Ryan asked with a concerned look. Troy shifted is his seat and faked a cough.

"Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. I just, uh...like your hat." Replied Troy, while helping Ryan fix the large poster board onto their combined desks.

"Oh, well thank you." At the mention of his hat, Ryan touched it to make sure it was crooked. The couple was able to get halfway through their assignment by the time the bell rang. They decided to meet up in the library after school the next day to work on it; in the meantime Troy would keep it in his locker. One by one, students rolled up their posters and fastened them with elastics and paperclips. The doorway quickly overflowed with students due to the long paper tubes, resulting in them leaving one at a time.

Sharpay was just about to leave as she heard her name being called by her English teacher.

"We need to talk."

—

"What do you mean I have detention?!" Sharpay asked, completely shocked. The clicking of her high heels rang through the room as she stomped her feet.

"I mean exactly that. You have detention. All next week." Mr. Dambinski stated with a stern look towards his student.

"W-why?" the blonde girl could barely keep her mouth closed.

"Well, according to Ms. Neilson, you made her do your work for you. I read over both her essay, and the one that you claim to have done, and they are strikingly similar. I also kept an eye on you during class today. You made Chad do all the work." Mr. Dambinski said through the brim of his glasses.

"Well...well I always make everyone do my work. Why would I have to lift a finger?" huffed Sharpay.

"Exactly. And if you do it again, I won't hesitate to inform the principal and your parents." The English teacher began to sort papers.

"But Mr. Dambinski, I can't have detention next week-" she started. Drama club was much more important.

"You most certainly can, and you will. Now no more arguing, or I will call the principal, immediately. You will show up here every day next week after school for detention, and you will write the essay by yourself. Here's a late pass for your next class. You're dismissed. " both people in the room were noticeably frustrated. Sharpay stormed out of the room with a growl. Kelsi would definitely be hearing about this. Mr. Dambinski pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.

—

Everyone heard the wrath of Sharpay. But nobody experienced it quite like Kelsi or Ryan. The small girl made herself even smaller against the locker. Ryan tried his best to ignore, though he knew he would hear more of it at home.

"And you can bet that none of your songs will make it into any of the musicals! You know, I thought I was being nice. But I guess, I was actually wrong for once. Like they say, if you want something done, do it yourself." Growled Sharpay before she left for her next class. The small composer sunk down to the floor, and was pink in the face. Her eyes began to mist up.

"You know, my sister can be pretty over dramatic sometimes, but I know you did the right thing." Ryan said, offering a comforting smile and helped her up. Kelsi tried to smile back, and slowly shuffled down the hallway, away from the twins. Ryan sighed and ran to catch up with his sister.

"Don't say it, Ryan!" Sharpay interrupted before her brother was able to utter a word.

"Don't say what?" He asked, puzzled.

"You know, that you told me so!" Sharpay rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"...But I did tell you-" Ryan was interrupted yet again with a finger in his face.

"Shh! I said don't say it!" She shrieked quickly.

"Sorry..." Mumbled the boy twin. The two sauntered to their next class, Sharpay having more confidence than she should have, and Ryan looking dejected.

—

"Yeah, man, it's like she didn't even read or anything. She was acting more blonde than usual and I had to do all the work." Chad and Troy were still conversing about English, minutes before tryouts were to start.

"Really? Huh, that's weird. I think I remember hearing something between her and that Kelsi girl in the hallway after class. Maybe that had something to do with it." Troy furrowed his brow, trying his best to remember the incident that happened earlier that day.

"Who knows, dude. Girls are weird." replied Chad with wide eyes. Troy smirked in agreement. Other conversation and horse play was going on until Coach Bolton jogged into to gym, blowing his whistle. All of the boys present straightened up almost instantly. Within seconds they were all in a straight line in front of their hopeful coach-to-be.

"Alright," Coach Bolton shouted "it's great to see so many of you here today." coach yelled enthusiastically "And as you know, there can only be fifteen of you on the team. So what your job today is, to impress me and, show me your all. But most importantly- act and work together as a team." The dusty gym fell into a hushed silence, as the coach took a moment to look over all the boys that had arrived there, on the behalf of their love for the game.

"Now I don't know what you guys think you're doing just standing there, show me some laps. Come on, let's get to it!" He shouted and clapped, bidding the boys to take heed of his words with short bursts of his whistle. He heard a few "Yes, sir" 's before the mass began to jog around the gym.

Jogging was follwed by individual dribbling, shooting baskets, and passing. The group divided into two lines, facing each other and they would attempt to pass the ball down the line to the person opposite of them, as fast as possible. Next to actually being in a game, this was Troy's favourite part. He loved how everyone worked together and acted like a single entity, even to get the simplest of tasks done.

Shortly after passing they were ordered to do stretches, and informed that they would be doing a mock game. Their team would consist of who was in their line during passing. Troy reminded his dad that they really should have done stretches first thing. Mr. Bolton chuckled to confirm that Troy was right, and told him to go join the other guys stretching. Troy ran up to Chad, who was stretching with Jason and Zeke, and started doing Crossover Reverse Lunges.

"So how far did you get into your project with Sharpay, anyway?" Troy asked Chad. This got Zeke's attention.

"You got partnered up with Sharpay? Lucky." Zeke interjected, quickly receiving odd looks from his friends.

"No, Zeke, I'm not lucky. Ice princess expects me to do all the work. And I mean, that's like a crime. I never have to do any work." Chad scoffed. The small group then switched to doing Dynamic Chest Stretches. "And we didn't get very far, by the way. I'm probably going to just bring it to my house and work on it myself. What about you, Troy?" Chad questioned.

"That sucks, man. Me and Ryan actually work really well together. We're about halfway done, we're gonna meet up in the library tomorrow after school to finish it. You can totally join us if you want." Troy said while stretching his arms back and bringing them back in front of him.

"Woah, no thanks man. I don't want to know what you two'd be up to in there." Chad retorted, beginning to do Kneeling Hip Flexors. Zeke and Jason snickered.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Troy questioned and stopped in mid-stretch. Chad gave him a look as if to say it was obvious. Troy lowered his brow and slightly raised one of his hands as another questioning gesture. All the boys brought attention to the coach yet again from another sharp ring from the whistle. Everyone stopped stretching and got into two small teams. Troy's heart raced as the thrill getting the basketball took over him.

—

Troy was feeling fantastic. Tryouts went well and he was able to make up with his dad about his outburst. He spent the rest of the day just relaxing and doing homework. He couldn't wait for the next day to see who got on the team. The young athlete texted his best friend about who they thought made the cut.

'jeffers made it 4 sure man'

'no way. his throw was off every time. im betting green'

'if any1s throw was off it was yours'

'using numbers while you text isnt cool, chad.'

Troy smirked and tossed his mobile phone to the side of his bed. The text book he was studying from closed with a dull thud. Papers crinkled as he shoved his school things back into his book bag. Troy continued to text Chad between showering and putting his pajamas on.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but as soon as he woke up he was ready for the day. Sportsman energy fueled him as he got dressed quickly and raced downstairs.

"Somebody's excited. " Troy's mother said playfully when he reached the kitchen. She handed him a plate of toast in which the boy eagerly munched on.

"Yeah, mom, today I find out if I made the team!" He happily replied, taking a loud bite of toast.

"Well I'd be surprised if you didn't make the team." She said with a small laugh, looking adoringly at her husband.

"You know, Lucile," Troy's father said from the end of the kitchen table "sometimes I think he knows the team schedule better than I do." He said jokingly, enjoying a hot cup of coffee. Troy smiled between his last bite of toast and got up from the table just as the school bus arrived in front of the Bolton household.

"Oh, gotta run. I'll see you guy's later, bye!" The wildcat said, grabbing his book bbag. He hugged his mother and waved back to his dad before hastily leaving through the front door.

"That kid is something else." Jack muttered before taking another sip of coffee.

Chad and Troy stepped off the bus in a hurry, and met up with Jason and Zeke to check out the list together, witch would be pinned up in the gym. The four boys rushed up the stone steps at the front of the building, pushing past large groups of students. Everyone was a little bit louder than normal; teams for other sports as well as class president were also being announced that day.

"Hi Troy!" Sharpay said loudly, tapping Troys shoulder.

"Uh-huh." Troy paid hardly any attention to his admirer. Instead he shrugged her off and continued to the gym with his friends. Whatever Sharpay had to say could wait. Meanwhile, Sharpay was appalled. She placed her hand over her mouth as she gasped. Her brother was clearly amused.

"Well, like you said, sis," Ryan said, standing close to his twin "he is pretty dedicated." Sharpay groaned in frustration and stormed off, leaving the taller sibling behind.

A huge crowd was forming in the gym, made up of the boys who tried out for the team, and their friends. Troy saw looks of denial and elation, and gossip echoed throughout the large gymnasium.

Troy spotted Bobby Jeffers walking away from the new team list looking extremely discouraged. Troy guessed he didn't make the team this year. 'Well there's one thing I was right about, so far.' He thought. His three friends were able to push through the crowd and see the list before him. They came back with huge smiles and began to push Troy towards the front. 'Well, here goes.' Thought Troy as he took a deep breath.

'You own it, you better never let it go  
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance  
To blow  
This opportunity only comes once in a lifetime'


	3. Chapter 3

"Sorry, sorry... Comin' through." Mumbled Troy as his friends Chad, Zeke, and Jason pushed him deeper into the crowd. The suspense of finding out about making the team was just about as great of a feeling as trying to win a game, at least, to Troy it was. His blood seemed as heavy as lead, and his heart beat echoed inside his skull just as the tiny print on stark white paper became visible. The athletic teen decided to read through the entire list. Because, if he did make the team, he'd like to try to figure out who would work well together before their first official team meeting; which was to be during free period that day. Though, he was sure his dad was a step ahead of him. He was coach for a reason. It was like time slowed down as Troy began to read the list that held his fate.

' Baylor, Zeke

Bolton, Troy

Brown, Henry

Cross, Jason

Danforth, Chad

Dombo, Thomas

Gonzalez, Antonio

Green, William

Hall, Michael

Keele, Evan

Marks, Edward

Mitchell, Alexander

Murphy, Lucas

Wilde, Jeffrey

Zara, Daniel '

...He made made the team, with his friends, too! A perfect, waxen smile broke over the boy in his elation. His dad would certainly hear a huge thanks from him later, and Troy would as always try his best at the sport. Meanwhile, everyone who made the team cheered and whooped. Troy patted his friends on their backs happily.

"What team?" Chad shouted to the whole gym.

"Wildcats!" The large group replied in a mixture of shouting, loud voices, and awkward murmurs.

"What team?!" Chad repeated, this time louder.

"Wildcats!" He had everyone shouting enthusiastically.

"Wildcats!" Shouted Chad one last time, pumping both of his fists into the air. Troy has been through that enough to know when to dodge.

"GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!" Everyone shouted in unision to end their chant. Students left the gym a few at a time in a loud excited jabber, occasionally wooing at their success. They could practically feel Sharpay scoffing at their jockiness, but who cared?

"Did you guys see the whole team on the list?" Troy asked his friends as they walked to home room.

"Yeah, man. It's gonna be one hell of a season. Your dad rocks." Chad replied, thrilled.

"For sure. We are so going to rock it all the way to the championships this year." Zeke added in. Jason stayed quiet until that point, his confusion getting the best of him.

"How do you guys know? I mean, unless you're all, like, pysics or something." Jason asked while scratching his head. Zeke and Troy tried to hide their smiles from the amusement. Chad, however, was mildly irritated and rolled his eyes.

"Jason, do you not get, like, figures of speach or whatever? Or predictions?" Chad asked, a bit more venomously than he intended. Jason shrugged his shoulders and frowned. Chad then sped off to homeroom. Zeke showed Jason an empathetic look, and Troy mouthed 'Chad's sorry'.

—

Once in homeroom, Zeke saw Sharpay and Ryan talking to one another at their desks. Well, mostly Sharpay.

"Hey, Sharpay! " Zeke said with a grin at the front of her desk. The blonde diva was turned around in her desk, facing her brother who then pointed lazily to the other boy. Sharpay raised a skeptical eyebrow at the tall male. "I heard about what happened between you and Kelsi, and I just wanted to let you know that I can always help you with your English homework or whatever, if you want. I mean, I won't do your work for you, but...yeah." Zeke finished awkwardly while a blush krept up his face.

"Listen, I don't know what you think you heard- but you didn't hear it!" Sharpay bossily snapped. Behind her, Ryan rolled his eyes. This made Zeke feel unwelcomed and he walked the rest off his way to his desk. Papers shuffled and mobile phones beeped as student continued to do studently things until the bell rang for homeroom to start. Ms. Darbus was her usual loud self with dramatic flare.

"As I'm sure you've all remembered, the Class President for this year has be determined. So hopefully, those of you who wished to participate have turned in your votes." The Drama instructor began. There was one disappointed 'oh' from the back of the classroom. The student was glared at, in a scrutinizing manner; because according to the students, they weren't supposed to actually care about that kind of stuff. There was really only one who did. Taylor McKessie could barley contain her excitement. Troy heard an annoyed sigh from his best friend.

"So, your Class President for this year is... Taylor McKessie! Congratulations! " Said Ms. Darbus, a delighted expression on her face. The purple shaw draped across her shoulders and arm was drawn taught as the large woman stretched out her arms. Taylor nearly choked back a squeal, and her group of friends awarded her with a dragged out applause. She then raised her hand and proceeded to speak.

"Can I just say, that I am honoured to be your class president this year. And also, those of us on the Mathlete's team would always love new members. The sign up sheet is on the podium in the main lobby, as always, and-" She was interrupted by Ms. Darbus. At this, numerous classmates snickered, notably Chad. It had almost surprised Troy that Chad hadn't yet fallen asleep.

"Yes, that is simply wonderful, Miss McKessie, thank you. Now, as I have been mentioning, the summer musical is coming closer! Auditions will be held next Friday during free period. I would love to see new faces in the theatre. You are encouraged to ask Miss Nielson for songs to preform. And if you are truly unsure of what would help you...shine the brightest," Ms. Darbus announces with an exaggerated twirl, "I most certainly wouldn't object to offering some of my expertise knowledge." Ms. Darbus spent the rest of the period explain how "the arts enrich the soul" with way too much verbal vigor.

"Excuse me, Ms. Darbus." Sharpay said at the end of class, while her classmates went to first period. Ms. Darbus' glasses drooped slightly as she looked up from a book.

"Yes, what is it, Sharpay?" She asked, concerned that something could be wrong with her favourite student. Sharpay put on her best 'puppy dog' face.

"Well, it's about what you said earlier, of the summer musical... Our musicals are always the best, I'd know, and show biz is tough. I just...don't think Kelsi's little heart would be able to take it if her songs somehow didn't do well." Years of acting helped the young girl tear up at the end of her false worry. She dabbed her eyes delicately with the tissue her teacher handed her.

"And what are you trying to say?" Asked the stout woman, furrowing her brow.

"I was thinking maybe we could use Andre's compositions instead. They'll work just as good, and it will give Kelsi the opportunity to build up her confidence. It really would be best for everyone, and the show." Sharpay replied using her best persuasive voice. Her pawn seemed skeptical, and took a moment to consider the options. New students started to fill the desks behind them.

"If you really feel that that would be best for the show... I'll think about it. You made sure your brother agrees with this? You two are both co-presidents of the drama club, so I would expect an equal say." Sharpay knew what the answer was already. It didn't take much to get desperate people wrapped around her fingers, which she didn't mind. They made the best jewelry.

"Absolutely, Ms. Darbus! You know I would never count him out- we're twins for a reason." Sharpay replied, as if she has always included Ryan in everything. Most of the desks were taken by then, and chatter was apparent. Sharpay took the incentive to leave. "Tootles!"

—

"But you didn't even ask me!" Ryan pouted in the lunch line to his sister.

"Not my fault, you should have seen this coming. Like, I even said so. Do you even listen? " Sharpay retorted as she was handed her pre-made lunch. The siblings walked in unison to their table on the balcony of the cafeteria, groups of underclassmen parting as they did so. "Seriously, I've always done whatever it takes to get what I want. Why do you think I came out of the womb before you?"

"But this is different, Sharpay -" Ryan usually understood his sister's motives for her schemes, he didn't like being beat out either, but, he had never known her to actually hold grudges before.

"Why do you care so much?" She asked, genuinely curious. Her heals clicked on the red and white steps as they got closer to their table.

"Because she's kind of my friend, and that's what friends do?" Kelsi was already sitting at their table, with a few other kids from the drama department. Sharpay groaned, both at Ryan's response and Kelsi's existence.

"Smile, sis!" Ryan reminded her. She recognized his showtime voice and applied the brightest, most ambitious smile she could muster.

—

The basketball posse ate their lunch fast. Zeke even made sure to pack a smaller lunch so that he would finish faster than he normally would. Most of the other occupants of the cafeteria were still eating and talking with one another, oblivious of the meeting the new basketball team would be having during free period. After emptying their trays and putting them away, Troy and his friends quickly left the lunch room to go to the gym.

Coach Bolton was waiting in the gym for basketball team he assembled the night before. One by one, the guys showed up. Troy, Chad, Zeke, and Jason didn't have to wait long for the rest of the team to get to the gym. Everyone stood neatly in a line facing their coach, who looked proud.

"Those of you here today," the coach stated to he team, pacing slowly back and forth "great job. You made the team" he smiled at his son. A few of the teammates shared smiles.

"So, before I get to see you guys on the court, showing the West High Knights what skill really is," he paused and chuckled "I need to know your uniform sizes. And, we need to choose a team captain." he handed a clipboard and pen to the end of the line farthest from Troy. Each athlete wrote down their uniform size and passed it down to the next person in line. Meanwhile, coach Bolton continued on.

"A team captain should be someone who is brave, confident, and always gives one hundred and ten percent. They should know how well they can do on court, as well as for their fellow teammates. We need someone who is a team player all the time." There was no doubt about it, he was talking about Troy. 'I am not ready for this.' Troy thought. He took a deep breath and wrote his size down on the clipboard when Chad handed it to him. He handed it to Zeke as another boy in line spoke up.

"I vote for Troy." Troy's heart dropped. A mixture of honour and anxiety filled him. Other boys on the team agreed and chimed in with the first boy.

"Yeah, if it weren't for him I probably wouldn't be here right now." Chad said honestly.

"I don't know anyone that can do a jump shot better than him."

"And I think he knows our moves better than we do half of the time."

"Guys...guys, that's great and all but, there's got to be someone else better for the job. I mean, I'm really not that great. Tony's pretty good, he could be captain." Troy butt in, flattered by all of the votes for him.

"Thanks, Troy. But really, we all think you should be captain." a tall boy, Tony, replied from the end of the line. Troy let out a small breathy laugh from his nervousness. His father approached him.

"We all trust you Troy. We really think you're the best fit. What do you say?" Mr. Bolton had that fatherly smile that secretly meant 'don't disappoint me'. Troy smiled, knowing he couldn't get out of it.

"Hey, what kind of guy would I be if I said no?" Troy finally replied, stepping forward.

"That's my boy. Hey, I better see each and every one of you in here every day next week. We gotta be ready for homecoming, alright?" the coach said, getting the boys riled up. They huddled around their new captain and cheered.

"What team?!" Chad's voice echoed throughout the gymnasium.

—

"W-what do you mean?" Kelsi stood shocked at her piano in the auditorium. Props were being pushed around backstage and papers rustled in the forestage.

"I feel as though...it's the best choice, Miss Nielson- I'm sorry. Just think, this will allow you time to build from your work and gain confidence. Maybe we'll have you for the fall musical." Ms. Darbus told the small girl with her glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. She saw Kelsi's eyes start to turn red, but wasn't able to comfort her quick enough. Kelsi left the auditorium in a huff, running past busy drama kids. Sharpay walked triumphantly across the stage with Ryan, towards Andre, the boy she chose to compose the songs for the summer musical.

"Oh good, you're here!" She said with a sarcastic undertone. She grabbed the boy by his shoulders and turned him around so that he was facing the other way, and gave him a little push. "Now go transpose!" Andre stubbled off to the SR wing at the side of the stage. Sharpay looked snobbishly at Ryan, who had a rather sour look on his face.

"What's your problem?" They were in the middle of the stage, Ryan's shoulders were slumped and Sharpay rested a hand on her hip.

"You know what my problem is." Ryan sighed and left his sister in the middle of the stage. She stood there in silence for a few moments and ignored everything else going on around her.

"Boys!" She proclaimed with a groan and flailed her hands. Prop pushers got out of her way as she stomped towards Andre.

The drama instructor was sitting in a front row seat of the auditorium, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"The things I put up with for the arts." She mumbled to herself with a sigh. Ms. Darbus gratefully took a glass of water offered to her by a freshman. She took her time consuming the water, enjoying a few moments of peace. The glass was then sat down with a 'clink' on a fold out table. She walked slowly to the apron and clapped to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, people, let's get to work! Mr. Andre, miss Evans!" She motioned for the pair to come to her. The students were all together on the stage, waiting to be assigned a task. Andre and Sharpay walked down the steps of the stage to their teacher. "Andre, go help Sharpay with this song." Andre took the sheet music from the short woman and walked with the blonde diva to the piano. "Mr. Evans!" Ryan reappeared and walked down to Ms. Darbus.

"Yes, ma'am?" He asked, checking his hat in the process.

"Oh, your hat looks fine, darling! Now, would you go help those...lovely girls with some choreography? Just ask them what they need help with." The instructor said and pointed to a group of ditzy girls on cell phones. "And I'll be seeing you three ladies in detention!" she shouted to the group. They immediately put their phones in their pockets. Their embarrassment was very apperant, and several students giggled at the incident. Ryan smirked as he walked with his hips back up the steps to the stage.

—

After school, Troy was waiting for Ryan in the library with their poster at the table he and Chad usually sat at. A few other students were scattered amongst the remaining tables also working on English projects. Typing could be heard across the library. Despite the room being mostly full, the librarian, Mrs. Falstaff, made sure it stayed quiet. Ryan entered the library with his messager bag over his shoulder and his mobile phone in hand. Troy noticed the phone wasn't as 'nice' as that of his female counterpart. A few strands of blond hair were visible from under his white hat, and offered a nice contrast to the harsh yellow of the library walls. The tall boy placed his things down on the table and sat across from Troy.

"I worked a little on my half of the project, so when I'm done I can help you with your half and we can get out of here. " Troy said, doing his best to unroll the poster. Much to his dismay, it kept rolling back up. It was Ryan's idea to keep it down with a few books.

"Good idea, Ryan." commented Troy. He took the last book from his partner and put it on the single bare corner of the poster.

"Yeah, no problem, Troy." He replied with a smile. The two boys worked and talked simultaneously, careful to avoid the eagle-like hearing of Mrs. Falstaff.

"You know, Troy, you're actually really cool. I mean, besides popular, you're, like, a real person." Ryan said to Troy, as they were nearly done with their project. Troy grinned at the complement. Not too many people took the time to know him outside of 'East High's Basketball God'.

"I was thinking' the same thing. ...About you, I mean. " Said the popular athlete. He took his time writing one of the last points down.

"Thank you, Troy." Ryan began to collect the paperclips and rubber band for the poster.

"How come you only hang out with the drama kids?" Troy asked Ryan as they rolled the poster up and fastened it. Ryan stopped to think for a moment.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm a little...different from other guys. I could get in serious trouble if I hang out with the wrong crowd." He paused for a moment and looked Troy in the eye. "But... You're different, too?" Ryan could practically sense it, but at the same time he felt as though he was treading on hot coals. Troy raised an eyebrow at the question.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I get it. Different how?" He smiled at the odd assumption. Ryan's naturally pale face began to turn pink.

"Oh, um...n-nevermind. It's nothing, really. I'm gonna...leave, since we're done here, so-" Ryan began to stutter and point at the door behind him with his thumb. Troy got the hint and started to pick up the rest of his things.

"Oh, yeah, that's cool. I'll, uh, see you later. It was nice working with you." Troy added in, his bangs shifted down as he nodded in agreement. He waved and turned around to walk towards the door. Ryan rushed as he grabbed his phone and put his backpack on, adjusting the strap with both hands. His flip phone fell to the the table with a thud, cracking the screen and chipping a corner in the process. Troy turned around at the sudden unexpected noise.

"Shit!" Everyone could hear the sound of his phone, and ultimately his heart, shattering. Troy jogged back to him.

"Mr. Evans!" The librarian shrieked at the use of such language.

"Shoot, I mean." He tried to correct himself, and received a strict glare from Mrs. Falstaff.

"I mean... I didn't say anything." He mumbled and looked down at his broken phone. The old woman huffed and continued to work on her paperwork.

"Woah, what happened?" Asked in a surprised whisper by Troy, who proceeded to examine the devise. Ryan stressfully ran his fingers through the back of his hair while recalling what had happened.

"I-I don't know. I was holding it at the same time I was trying to put my bag on, and I guess I just didn't have a good hold on it. Just my luck, right?" He tried to laugh, but it ended up as a deep sigh instead. Troy got an idea and pulled out his phone.

"Were you planning on calling anyone? You can use my phone." Ryan was shocked at the offer.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I was going to call my mom because Sharpay is the one that has a car, and she's not here, so... I'd need a ride home." Ryan shrugged and put his phone in his bag. He and Troy walked leisurely out of the library, still talking.

"Well... My dad is still here, and I have some spare keys. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I took you home real quick." Troy suggested. His dad had some teacher's meeting that probably wouldn't be over for a while, and it couldn't take that long to get to Ryan's house and back, right?

"Really? Thank you so much, that would be great!" Ryan beamed at the offer. Troy thought his smile really lit up the place. Which was a completely normal straight guy thought. Absolutely. The pair walked out of the library and into the hallway. Not many students stayed after school, but some who did were puzzled by the two boys getting along together- being from two different cliques and all .

"Yeah, no problem! Just gotta drop this thing off at my locker and then we can go. My dad's car is in the back parking lot." Troy said as he swung the poster by his side. They walked in no particular hurry to Troy's locker. Once they got there, Ryan's peeked at the inside. It was in the section of white lockers that had large red wildcat themed paw prints on the door. On the inside, it looked like the locker of a typical teenage jock. A few pictures of Troy's friends and basketball idols were clipped to the door, thick textbooks, binders, and folders were sharing space on the floor and small top shelf. An East High Letterman jacket Troy had since his freshman year was hung neatly on the back hook. Ryan didn't notice Troy had put the poster in his locker until he saw Troy watching him look at the athlete's locker. He wasn't usually so openly nosey, sometimes he just couldn't help it. Ryan quickly averted his gaze to his shoes, which matched his hat.

"You like what you see?" Troy asked playfully. He could have been flirting, he wasn't sure. At least that's what he thought to himself. Both of the boys blushed.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I get it." Ryan repeated what Troy had said earlier, purposely making an extra-confused face. Troy grinned goofily in response and shut his locker. They backtracked slightly to cut to the back parking lot where the car was.

—

Troy and Ryan got into the slick black vehicle. Troy turned the car on and rolled the windows down, it was a bit warm from staying out in the sun all day. Ryan told Troy his address before they backed out of the parking spot. Troy was calm and knew what he was doing. His parents let him drive their cars every so often until he was able to get one of his own, he had the spare set of keys for a reason. When they got on the road the radio was turned on by the brunette, who then proceeded to dial through the stations in hope of finding something decent. However, once he settled on something, Ryan immediately turned the volume down.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to be doing this? I mean, especially without asking, or even telling, your dad first?" Ryan asked over the music. He definitely didn't want to be the reason Troy Bolton got in trouble. His sister wouldn't be happy about what it could do to Troy's reputation, and therefore her reputation as well.

"Of course, relax. Besides, we're almost to your place. And hey, you'll be the first one to know if I get in trouble, okay?" The other boy replied in a slightly more serious tone. Ryan shrugged it off and watched the blurry scenery through the window, and Troy turned the volume up on the radio. The blond immediately recognized the song.

"Oh, this is my jam!" He said, turning up the volume of radio. It definitely didn't seem like the kind of music the Ryan Evans Troy thought he knew would like, but that was what getting to know people was all about.

"Seriously? " Troy asked as he rose his eyebrows in surprised and turned a corner.

"Completely! I'm not all show tunes, you know." Ryan replied teasingly. He did as much of a dance as the confinement allowed his to, which consisted of swaying his arms and shoulders side to side to the beat.

' I like you the way you are

When we're driving in your car

And you're talking to me one on one

But you've become

Somebody else 'round everyone else

You're watching your back like you can't relax

Trying to be cool,

You act like a fool to me...'

Troy didn't want to admit it, but he sang the whole song with Ryan (and made him promise not to tell anyone). Troy pulled into the driveway of the Evans' estate, which was undeniably huge considering the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Evans were filthy rich. Troy wondered why Ryan didn't have a car or a nice phone like Sharpay did. He was brought back to reality by his phone buzzing in his pocket and told Ryan to wait a second.

"Where's my car?"

"Oh, hey,...dad. I was just dropping off... A friend real quick. I'll be right back, okay?" Troy said to his dad, awkward proving Ryan to be possibly right. The passenger her the unsatisfied 'yeah' from the other end of the line and gave Troy a look that said 'I told you so'. Troy rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Yeah. Okay, bye." Troy hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. By this point Ryan had unbuckled his seatbelt and was ready to leave the car.

"So..." Troy started, not quite sure what to say.

"It was nice hanging out with you, Troy Bolton. And thanks for the ride. " Ryan said with a smile and got out of the car. He took a moment to put his bag on and then closed the door and began to walk away. If the windows weren't still rolled down, Troy probably wouldn't have shouted 'You, too, Ryan Evans!'.

—

"So who are you taking to homecoming?" Chad asked Troy late in Sunday afternoon. Troy couldn't think of any girls he was interested in at the moment, and he wouldn't feel weird going without a date, since his friends would be there. The two boys layed on their backs on Troy's bed with their legs hanging off either side. Troy had his hands resting on his chest, and Chad was throwing his basketball lightly in the air.

"I'm not really sure. What about you?" Troy said after some thought.

"I think I'm gonna ask Amanda. She's cute, and she'd have to watch me play in the homecoming game because she's on the cheer leading team." Sometimes Chad actually thought ahead and had good ideas, depending on what your definition of a good idea might be.

"Good call, man." Troy responded halfheartedly. They were able to successfully bro fist without even looking.


	4. Chapter 4

Authour's Note: Hello everyone! I'd like to thank those of you who've read and reviewed so far. Not too much in this chapter, but expect a cute homecoming dance chapter on Monday. ;)

Troy lay on his bed going though moves in his mind. He had just finished practicing for the homecoming game with his dad and Chad. A breeze caused ember coloured leaves to tap against his bedroom window. As September started to die, so did the leaves. Chad successfully got Amanda as a date, even though he called her the wrong name twice while asking her.

Chad said, "Ashley... Aubrey... I mean, Amanda. You're Amanda, of course you are are. How about you go to the dance with me?" The red haired girl thought his fumble was cute and said yes. Troy almost couldn't believe it. He was surprised that Chad hadn't called her Sharpay. The real Sharpay was handling her detention, and any possible rumours that went with it, well. Well enough as a diva could, anyway. Troy also helped Chad with his poster, since Sharpay wouldn't do any of it, and he couldn't just let his best friend work alone. Ryan and Troy ended up getting an A+ on their poster, which made Chad wonder what kind of voodoo went on in the library.

The brunette thought more about homecoming. 'It won't be the end of the world if I don't have a date... But what kind of team captain can't get a date to homecoming?' He thought. He sighed deeply and ran his hands through his moppy hair. His biceps gleamed with sweat, so he decided to continue thinking in the shower. He had never had a girlfriend before, and no one could figure out why. He was always on the sports teams, and had good grades, and a great face. He had just never really thought about dating or girls before. He was afraid of getting some girl's hopes up and then being someone completely different than who everyone thought he was. Or maybe he just hadn't met the right girl yet, he tried to reassure himself. Wildcat superstars couldn't be afraid.

It was the middle of spirit week, the school's football team already had their first game, and won. The basketball team would be playing against the North High Royals that Friday. Troy and his father had been working out the plays they thought would help them succeed. The young boy understood why the practice and preparation was necessary, but with schoolwork and homecoming on the way, it was just added stress. But Troy couldn't let his dad, or his team down. Not right after he was voted team captain. He would do everything he could to make it work.

He decided that the school library was a good place to stay after school to work on assignments, and if he wanted to practice basketball in the school gym, it wasn't that far. Troy noticed that he wasn't the only busy student, and saw Ryan Evans also in the library a few times that week. He remembered that Ryan was in the drama club, probably vice president or something like that, and created the choreography for the musicals. Once, he almost approached the blond boy to ask him about drama club, but didn't want to be rude. Troy walked up to Ryan from behind, and stopped just as his hand was centimeters from the other boy's shoulder. The brunette hesitated for a moment and casually walked back to his table. Ryan was oblivious of his advancer, stuck in his own world. Music flooded his ears at high volumes, as it helped him concentrate whenever he was working, especially with choreography. Ryan was able to get Andre's songs for the musical on his MP3 player, coming up with dances for the songs would be easier that way. As he scribbled down the last step, he got out of his chair and put his things away. He panicked for a moment, until he realized that he hadn't yet gotten a replacement mobile phone and wasn't actually missing anything. The Evans boy walked out of the library to go to the auditorium and practice the footwork. Ms. Darbus and Andre would be happy that Ryan had worked on it so much already.

The sensation of hot water brought Troy back to actuality. He rinsed shampoo out of his hair and used a towel to dry off. A grey cotton sweater freshly concealed his toned body. He padded back to his bed and thought about texting Chad about homecoming. However, he was unable to do so. As it turns out, Troy really worked himself hard. He hadn't even realized how tired he was until he had lain down. Black slits slipped into his field of vision, eyelids becoming heavy. His breathing became slower and his subconscious agreed to the inevitable slumber.

—

Crowds of students and staff cheered at the moving line of floats in the homecoming parade. The marching band lead the large group, followed by cheerleaders and floats for every sports team and club. The captain and a select few members of each team were to man each float, smile and wave, and just generally look happy and heroic. This meant Troy and Chad mumbling detest through their best fake smiles and braved the late September wind. Because they were representing the basketball team, they were only wearing their team jerseys and shorts. Troy, however, got away with also wearing his favourite watch. Not only did it look good, but it let the duo know how much longer they were to stand out in the cold.

"Only twenty more minutes, man. We can do this." Troy said through the side of his mouth to Chad, as the float they were standing on slowly passed a herd of overexcited moms.

A few floats behind, the co-presidents of the drama club were soaking up the applause as plants did sunshine.

"Oh, Ryan, don't you just love admirers?" Sharpay asked her brother. She waved, as a princess would, to the crowd. Her lip gloss coated smile was identical to the glittery pink of the drama club float. A trim of white feathers ruffled around her neck, fastened to a fashionably white coat. Ryan stood next to her, waving to the crowd on his side of the float. Though, a bit less like a princess.

"Almost as much as you do." he replied with a genuine smile. Sunlight reflected off of the large sunglasses both twins were wearing. While most of the other floats in the parade tossed small pieces of candy to the onlookers, Ryan and Sharpay went with a different tactic. A large tub of sliver and pink glitter sat between the two blonds. Ryan tossed a large handful onto a group of boys who didn't really want to be there. The boys shielded their eyes and coughed at the surprise.

Sharpay remarked "Fabulous." with a smirk, letting her sunglasses slide down the bridge of her nose and carefully pushing them back up with a well manicured finger.

The show carried down the town streets, sidewalks flooded with onlooking pedestrians, before finally coming to a halt at the school. The participants were congratulated by coaches and friends as they dismantled their floats. Troy and Chad's dad's had just left to talk to one another and the other coaches as Zeke showed up.

"Hey guys! You looked really awesome up there. And cold." he paused, and pulled out a baggie from one of his coat pockets. "I brought you some brownies... That my mom made." Troy and Chad happily accepted the treats.

"Woah, Zeke, these are delicious. Thank you so much." Troy proclaimed as he bit into one of the soft squares.

Chad chimed in "Yeah, tell your mom to never stop baking." Zeke was secretly filled with pride.

"Sure guys, no problem." He said with a smile. The drama club float could be seen a few meters away. "I gotta get going. See you at the game later." Zeke waved goodbye to his friends and walked quickly towards a group of drama kids.

"Sharpay, hi!" Zeke said, waving briefly to get her attention, then shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Do I know you?" She asked, snobbishly, a hand on her hip. Other drama kids, including Ryan, were taking apart the float behind her.

"Well, uh, kinda. See, I was wondering if maybe... I would really like it if you went to the homecoming dance with me." Zeke rushed. Sharpay hardly gave it a second thought.

"No." She dismissed him with a flick of her hand and turned to walk away.

"Hey, Shar, were do you want me to put this-" she bumped right into Ryan, who had been holding the tub of glitter. Ryan accidentally let go of the tub, and it went flying...right onto Zeke. Ryan's jaw dropped, and Zeke coughed and immediately began brushing himself off. Sharpay looked innocently at the two boys.

"There's fine. Tootles!" The blonde smirked and walked off to the remains of the float. Ryan was still partially in shock. Zeke thought he heard Chad laughing from behind him.

"I...am so sorry." Ryan reached weakly at Zeke to help him, only to be shrugged off.

"...It's no big deal. It was an accident, it happens."

—

"I'm by no means judging you, Troy, and I'm glad you feel comfortable to come down here and talk about it with me. But you seem really close to your dad. Did you think to mention it to him?" the school counselor, Ms. Meeker, asked Troy in her office earlier that week.

"Well yeah, we are. And I did try to bring it up a few times to him. He just... Didn't get it. He always thinks everything is linked to basketball, or it's not a big deal." Troy sighed. He was really stressing about everything that was going on- schoolwork, homecoming, basketball. And he would be playing on the golf team in the state championships the next month. But that wasn't what this talk about was about, not really.

Ms. Meeker shifted in her seat. "Is that why you don't date?" She heard Troy sigh. He was leaning back in his chair, with his arms holding the back of his head as he watched the ceiling.

"Yes. I don't know. Maybe it is. Maybe I just haven't found the right girl yet." He sat up straight, but he still did not face her.

"Your shoes are pretty interesting, huh?" the counselor gently asked. The boy across from her chuckled. "And you know, Troy, it's okay. I know it seems like life is happening fast, but you still have the rest of your life to find out who you are and build who you want to be." Troy finally looked at her, processing and understanding her words. He was grateful for her advice.

"Thanks for listening to me, and helping me figure all this stuff out. I mean, I know it's your job and you have to, but..." He wheeled his hands in the air in front of him, searching for the right words. Ms. Meeker gave him a kind smile.

"You're welcome, Troy. It's my pleasure. I'd do this even if I didn't get paid for it." She pulled out a small baggie from under her desk. It opened with a 'zip' "Grape?" She offered to her student, pulling one out for herself.

Troy glanced at his watch. "Oh, no thanks. I gotta head off to practice."

"Alright, have a good time. Hey, tell me how your golf game goes, okay?" She asked, pulling a few more of the light green berries out of the bag.

"Sure. See ya, and thanks again!" The boy said gleefully before heading out of the door.

Since he left for practice early, Troy had time to run a lap or two on the track around the school's football field. He enjoyed it because it was easy to drift off in his thoughts and still get exercise. His friend Chad enjoyed it more though, and was on the Track and Field team.

A harsh wind blew golden leaves onto the track, which crunched under the athlete's feet. They went unnoticed as he denied his desire to talk to Ryan Evans about the homecoming dance.

—

Troy's knees trembled. He exchanged a determined glare with the opposing player. Suddenly, sneakers squeaked as all team members moved around. The referee played the ball at the sound of his whistle. Kike, the North High Royals player hit the ball first, but he didn't get a good hold on it. The basketball bounced behind Troy, Zeke dribbled it it up and over to Troy, who passed it to Chad. A Royal blocked Chad from behind, and two more were at Chad's front. Troy ran to get in front of Chad, and Zeke followed. The forth Royals player blocked Troy. Henry Brown, a Wildcat, sprinted passed the three point line and caught the ball just in time. The ball went back up into the air just as fast and balanced on the rim of the hoop. It teetered for what seemed like eons on the metal orange ring, before finally going into the basket. Two points.

The ball bounced and landed into the hands of the fourth royals player that was next to Brown, Larh. The tall boy dribbled in front of the three point line, and passed the ball to Kike. Danforth knocked the ball out of the shorter boy's hand. Boys ran and jumped and grabbed to get the orange sphere. One of the players who previously blocked Danforth, Everett, got possession of the ball and sprinted to the opposite end of the court. Wildcats ran to stop him, doing their best to block or steal the ball. The audience boo'd and cheered simultaneously as Everett successfully executed a slam dunk, and scored one point for his team.

Near the end of the first half, it was tied seven to seven. Cheerleaders could be heard encouraging their teams, as well as members of the audience. The Wildcats were carefully surrounding their basket. Turner, one of the five Royals on the court was given a foul shot. Everyone could tell that he was tired by the way he dribbled the ball. He dribbled twice, and then a third time, lightly jumping up and propelling the ball forward. It hit the backboard with a light 'smack' before messily going through the hoop. The gym was then filled with a breath that no one knew they were holding. The Royals were ahead by one point.

Bolton caught the ball when it was passed to him by his fellow teamate, Tom Dombo. The brunette dribbled across court, tailed by Kike. Wildcats and Royals stayed a safe distance, ready to catch the ball. Kike had his arms stretched out wide, and would shift more to the right or left depending on how his opponent would move. The young Wildcat quickly spun around and faked a left turn. He sprinted a sharp right and dribbled, intending to pass the ball to Baylor. However, during his right turn, he momentarily lost his balance and fumbled the ball. On his third dribble he slipped and crashed down to the floor. The crowd let out a disappointed 'oh'. Larh had the ball, passed it to Everett, who then made a jump shot that was deflected by Dombo. On the other side of the court, Chad helped Troy up.

"You okay?" Chad asked, wiping sweat off off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, man, thanks. Let's do this." Troy replied between deep breaths. The two teammates ran off towards the action. Royals were blocking Dombo, and the remaining two East High players could not stop Everett from doing a slam dunk and gaining yet another point.

Baylor hit the ball out of the hands of a Royal, shoes squeaking on the floor as he headed towards mid court. Danforth backtracked so that he was behind Bolton, who caught the ball. Their rivals were gaining on them. The ball was then passed to Danforth, he excitedly ran towards the basket and let the ball fly with a flick of his wrist. Bolton and Baylor guarded him and the ball. Unfortunately, Danforth miscalculated and did not throw the basketball properly. It ricocheted off of the basket's rim. Players scrambled and shoved for the ball, which slipped from hand to hand.

Turner dribbled the ball to the Wildcat's basket, only to be caught off guard by Bolton, who ran back to the other side of the court. A stampeding cluster of red and purple followed him as both teams wanted the ball. He ran and dribbled as fast as he could, there were only seven seconds left before the break, and number fourteen wanted to get his team ahead. His first idea was to make it to the three point line, more guaranteed to make the basket, but the clock was getting closer to zero. Just then, he brought up every ounce of strength and courage, and hurdled the ball as hard and accurately as possible. And it paid off. Bolton scored three points just in time. East high was ahead by one. The score was ten to nine. The referee blew his whistle, the worn out teams gathered on opposite sidelines.

"Great game so far, guys, I know we can win this. Troy, awesome shot you just did there." said coach Bolton as his team gathered on the sideline. He grabbed two boys by the shoulder. "Dombo, Brown- you've played a good game today. Get me Cross and Hall."

"Yes, sir." They both replied, catching their breaths. The drinking fountains on either of the gym's sides were busy and overcrowded. Athletes who were not near the drinking areas were stretching. Talk about the first half of the game echoed throughout the gymnasium, mixed with shoe squeaks, coughing, and the soft buzzing of the electric scoreboard. Red jerseys shimmered under the hanging florescent lights as East High's basketball team huddled in a tight circle.

Coach Bolton waited for his teammate to rehydrate and stretch before going over the final gameplay. "Alright guys, we are ahead by one. And we need to keep it that way if we want to move on and make it to the championships this year. That means I need you to work as a team." he watched the athletes nodded in understanding. "Your moves are great, don't get me wrong. But you guys gotta look out for each other. Back each other up, don't be afraid to pass the ball, and let each other know when you're open. Okay? You guys got this."

"Break!" shouted the team, collectively, while placing their hands on top of one another in the middle of the circle. They raised their arms in unision to break the circle. Coach Bolton gave a signal to the referee, who had also received a similar signal from the rival coach. The greying referee blew his whistle, requesting that the players take their places on the court. He tossed the ball to Bolton and blew his whistle again for the game to commence.

The Wildcats took the advice of their coach, working harder and looking out for each other. They had better defense this way, and scored more points. Kike was still playing for the Royals, and at one point shoved Bolton down to the ground, so hard that he skidded past the sidelines. This awarded Bolton a foul shot. Danforth struggled in the restraints of Baylor and Cross, wanting to get back at the boy for pushing his friend. The ball was dribbled by number fourteen in front of North High's basket. The sound of rubber hitting hardwood echoed just as much as heartbeats and close calls. A point was scored successfully before the away team gained possession of the ball once again. Everett shot the ball up towards East High's basket when he made it to the three point line, but he was deflected by Baylor who then dribbled it away.

"Hey, I'm open!" Cross shouted from behind a purple sea of Royals. Baylor faked a shot to his left, and made a clean shot to his teammate. Soon the Wildcats were ahead by four and starting to lose energy. The ball slowly went back and forth between the two teams against its will. The crowd cheered and boo'd, and cheerleaders could be heard encouraging their teams from either ends of the gym. The score was thirteen to eleven, and East High was still in the lead. Red numbers declined in value on the score board, tension was high. Three and a half minutes remained.

Danforth caught the ball from a Royal, making them miss a point, and passed it to Bolton. He only had five seconds to hold the ball, or the other team would get a foul shot. The boy spun around and shot the ball between his legs to Cross. Royals rushed over to the stocky Wildcat, pushing their way through tall and defensive players. The ball was suddenly out of Cross' grip, but not because he threw it. A Royal took it from behind, and was sprinting across the court. Cheerleaders dressed in purple and white cheered him on. The ball was passed to North High's tallest player, number five, who easily scored a baskest past the three point line. Not even Baylor was tall enough to block him. The Wildcats and their supporters groaned.

It was as if the Royals were just waiting for the last possible second to score, and that for the time being they were trying to keep the ball away from the Wildcats. They passed it from teammate to teammate, all over the court. It took a second for the opposing team to realize what they were doing. Bolton signaled for his team to spread out, and keep an eye on their area of the gym instead of everyone running back and forth. They were now behind by one, so they had to score at least two points to win. Two minutes remained.

Baylor ran from his corner of the gym, intercepting a pass by Turner and instead passed the ball to Danforth. Everything got indefinitely louder. The bushy haired boy dribbled and sprinted across the gym, backed up by his teammates, and dunked the ball directly into the basket. The ball fell through the net, directly into the hands of his teammate, Cross. He began to dribble so that he could shoot, but the ball was knocked out of his hands. He stole the ball back, but instead of throwing the ball towards the basket, he shot it straight up into the air. This caught everyone off guard. Boys scrambled for the ball they couldn't see. No one was even sure when Cross caught it again. When he did, he ducked low to the ground, spun, and retraced his steps.

The ball smacked against the backboard with force and sat on the outer edge of the rim. Baylor and Danforth jumped up and tried to hit it into the basket. With thirty seconds left on the clock, it worked. Energy was high and everyone was cheering and shouting. Michael Hall, the Wildcat who switched with Henry Brown during half time, smacked the ball out of the hands of a Royal. Everyone was determined to win, and wanted to be the one who shot the winning ball. The pale boy took the ball to midcourt, panicking when royals swarmed around him. He couldn't get a clear view of any of his teammates, but then he saw Bolton to his left. He spun around, so that he was facing the large clock on the score board. If anyone was close enough, they would see a red eighteen reflecting in his caramel coloured eyes. With the ball in his hands, he jolted forward as if to break the human wall around him. The royals tensed, preparing not to separate for their foe.

Rather than running forward with the ball, Hall preformed a beneficial little trick. His arms spread out, to act as a ramp, and he lightly tossed the ball up with his left hand. He quickly flipped his left hand, allowing the ball to land on top. It slid down his left arm and behind his head, continuing down his right arm. In a matter of seconds it was in and out of his right hand, and in the hands of Bolton. The tan boy could feel his heart beating rapidly as he ran powerfully towards the basket, dribbling as he went. The slow pace of the clock and encouragement from the audience and his coach vibrated through him. Every practice and game he had gone to led up to this moment. Exhaling through his mouth, he jumped up and launched the ball forward, scoring two points. Everyone in the gymnasium roared, the clock buzzed with quadruple zeros. Troy swore his heart had stopped, but he was really just feeling the pressure from all of his teammates giving him a group hug. The final score was seventeen to fourteen.

"Yes!", " Yeah, we won!", and "Whoo!" were exclaimed by the winners, lifting up the player who made the winning shot over their shoulders. Each of the boys were grinning and sweating, basking in the applause. The two coaches shook hands and called it a good game. Royals began to shuffle into the locker rooms to change so that they could board the bus back to their school. Kike was stopped by a tap on his shoulder.

"Good game." Troy Bolton commented, offering a handshake. Jonas Kike firmly took his hand and shook it, with a small smile on his face. Thick strands of hair stuck to his forehead, which glistened under the yellowish gym lights.

"Yeah, you, too. You guys were really good." Jonas replied. A light purple tint reflected off the two boys as other Royals walked around them to get to the locker room. Voices of athletes and audience members still bounced off of the gym's walls.

"So were you. You know, I almost didn't think we would win." said Troy playfully. Creases formed around the other boy's eyes and mouth as he chuckled at the remark. Troy turned around at the sharp sound of his dad's whistle.

"Hey, I gotta go. You work on your free throw, and maybe we can play one-on-one sometime." Troy promised to Jonas.

"Yeah, totally. See ya." Jonas confirmed before joining the rest of his team in the locker room. Troy jogged up to the wildcats, who were high on adrenaline. A few other wildcats skirted the bleachers, receiving hugs and praises for winning. Coach Bolton patted his son on the back, pushing him further into the mass of his friends.

"Alright! I am so proud of each and every one if you. I knew when I chose you for the team, you were all gonna be winners. Now let's bring this kind of game to the championship!" The coach loudly congratulated the players, then joined in with excited whoops and hollers.

"What team?" Chad shouted from the middle of the group.

"Wildcats!"

—

After the game, Troy lay tired on his bed while reading a sports magazine. He looked up from what he thought was a fascinating set of golf clubs when there was a knock on the door. The magazine ruffled his bed sheets when he put it down. His father walked in, smiling.

"Hey, kiddo." Mr. Bolton said, sitting next to his son on the mattress.

"What's up, dad?" Troy asked, his legs now dangling off the edge of the bed.

"Oh, not much... You did awesome in the game today. I'm so proud of you, I mean it." the father stopped to clear his throat and take a small item out from his pants pocket. "So, um...I want you to have this." when he opened his hand, a small golden ring with a red gem sat in its centre. Troy's eyes grew large at the sight.

"Dad, that's... That's your class ring!" Troy had seen it before in old pictures of his dad, whose finger was too large for it now. Mr. Bolton nodded and smiled at his son, and placed the ring in his hand and closed it.

"Uh-huh. And I want you to have it. You deserve it, Troy." Troy felt his dad rest a heavy hand on his shoulder. The boy nimbly slid the gold ring onto his finger, it fit perfectly. Both Boltons smiled.

"I don't know what to say, dad. T-Thank you." Troy said bashfully.

"No problem, Troy. You earned it. Hey, We'll see that same effort in your golf game on Monday, right?" Troy's father asked after lifting himself from the bed.

"Oh yeah, definitely!" Troy brushed his hair from his forehead as he answered.

"Right on. Keep up the good work, son. Good night." Mr. Bolton stood in the doorway momentarily, closing the door on his way out. Troy examined the, his, ring.

"Night, dad." Once Troy was sure that his dad wouldn't come back, he took a picture of the ring and sent it to Chad.


	5. Chapter 5

Authour's Note: Here's chapter five. I'll try to put up chapter six next Monday, and then from there be posting a new chapter each Monday. Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate each one. I'd also like to add that Sharpay is probably my favourite character to write. She's so sassy.

"Boys, you look wonderful! And so do you, Amanda, I love the purple." Mrs. Bolton complemented the teens in her living room.

"Thanks, Mrs. Bolton. I got it from a nice little dress shop at the mall. It even came with a matching tie, perfect for Chad." Amanda, Chad's homecoming date replied, while holding the mentioned boys hand. The group chatted about the evening and snacked on crackers while waiting for two more boys to show up.

Troy began fussing with his hair, which his mom insisted should be parted a certain way. Mrs. Bolton interfered and pulled his hands away. "Oh, sweetie, it looked fine. You look great."

Troy's obvious frown stated otherwise. He would be sure to change it when he was no longer in her sight. Chad snickered at the display, earning a rather sharp elbow in his side from Amanda. The sky became darker, fast. The inky black was pierced by two yellow headlights not long after, accompanied by the crackling of tire over rocks.

"I'll get it." Offered Mr. Bolton, who wasn't dressed for any sort of occasion. "Hey Jason, Zeke."

"Hey, coach." the two boys greeted Mr. Bolton, then everyone else in the main room. Mrs. Bolton brought out more finger food, and proceeded to search frantically for her camera.

"Yo, Troy. The sixties called, they want their hairstyle back." Zeke teased with a mouthful of cracker. Troy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Zeke, I know. Thanks." if Troys words were solid objects, his last would be oozing with sarcasm. Mrs. Bolton could be heard coming down the stairs in her heals, and sure enough she returned camera in hand. The black device was carried like a trophy.

"Who's ready for pictures? Everyone, in front of the fireplace!" her excitement did not let her wait for anyone to answer. She quickly shooed the group of five towards the fireplace, arranging them as she saw fit. "Jason, you first, then Zeke. Okay, Ashley you go here. Then Chad, and Troy... Perfect!" she shot away with clicks and flashed, taking multiples of each pose everyone broke into. Mr. Bolton happily watched in the background, eating crackers with a orange coloured dip made by his wife. When Chad and Ashley were getting a picture together, Troy pulled back the cuff of his red button down to look at his watch.

"Uh, mom? The dance starts at eight. We might want to get going, it's like seven forty five." Troy furrowed his brow, and double checked on the wall clock. Troy's mom too a few more pictures of the couple, experimenting with the angle.

"Shoot! Okay, um... Everyone, make sure you've got all your stuff and start to head out. Troy, come here and get a picture with your father." Mrs. Bolton hurriedly thought out loud, pulling her son to the fireplace.

"Honey," Mr. Bolton began to protest from the kitchen "I'm in sweat pants." the tall man wiped cracker crumbs from his mouth, but made no effort to get his picture taken.

"Jack, it's only one picture. Come on." said Mrs. Bolton with a semi stern look. Mr. Bolton sighed and slid off the counter.

"Oh, Mrs. Bolton," Zeke said during the final picture "that dip you made was really good. Surprisingly, tomatoes can really bring out the favour and make it better. My mom has this recipe that we use all the time. I can bring it over for you to use whenever. "

"Thanks, Zeke, that's really nice of you. I'd love to try it sometime." replied the older woman, who then put her camera away and grabbed her car keys. "Does anyone want to ride with me?" the five friends all looked at each other simultaneously, prompting Troy to speak up.

"No thanks, mom. We can all fit in Zeke's car." Said Troy, once again touching his tawny hair.

"You sure? With all five of you in that little thing, it's going to be cramped." She asked the fivesome again with a skeptical eyebrow. Jack moved out of her way, with the cracker dish, so that she could get her wallet.

"I'll ride with you, Mrs. Bolton." Jason said from the side of the group.

"Really, man? You don't gotta." asked Zeke, surprised as the rest of the people in the room. The shorter boy shrugged it off.

"Sure, I don't mind." he replied cooly.

"Well okay then, great. Let's go everyone, we don't want to be late." Mrs. Bolton said hastily while rushing everyone out of the house. She hugged and kissed her husband goodbye and triple checked everything before starting her car up.

"I'll let you two lovebirds share the back seat. Shotgun!" Troy made a beeline for the passenger's seat of Zeke's black 2004 Chevy Aveo. "Man, this is so awesome." he said to Zeke as he buckled in.

"Yeah, and it counts as my birthday and Christmas gift- for the next two years." said Zeke, exasperatedly, checking the mirrors.

"Still cool though. You know how many summers I'll have to spend mowing lawns before I can even think about getting a car? My parents say I have to get a 'real' job next summer." both Zeke and Troy looked both ways before Zeke pulled out of the driveway. "Hey, Chad?"

"Yeah, man?" Chad scooched forward so that he was closer to the front seats.

"Remind me that we gotta visit Bobby sometime. Maybe we can pick up a car there to work on. "

"Sure thing. You know he always has something." Chad and Troy smiled at the thought of helping out Bobby in the junk yard again. He was a friend of both families, so they practically grew up with the man.

The rest of the car ride wasn't quiet. Between surfing through the radio stations and talking about possibilities for the night, a lot went on. The parking lot was almost full when both cars got to the school. Tall streetlights punched white holes in the otherwise black sky. Voices and frosty breathes floated through the air as students made their way inside the building. Jason met up with his friends not much after they arrived, huddled in front of the school building.

"You know, it's really cool of your mom to be a chaperone for the dance." Jason said to Troy, shoving his hands in his pockets. Chad raised an eyebrow at the remark.

"Oh, uh... Thanks." responded Troy. "She had the night off, so. Yeah..."

"Dude, what's gotten into you? Come on, guys, let's go inside." Chad retorted, pulling Amanda by his side. Troy and Jason exchanged looks before following the couple and Zeke. The gym lobby was a bright and warm contrast to the outdoors. Multiple parents had also volunteered to help with the dance, so there were more people to give students tickets. The line moved smoothly, not that anyone would notice if it hadn't. Students were too busy finding their friends in line, comparing dresses, and discussing songs. Some students who had already been admitted were lined up at the concession stand. Pop music could be heard coming from inside the gym.

"Troy Bolton. How good to see you here! And your mom is also a chaperone, how nice. That will be ten dollars, please. Thank you." A cheery arts teacher greeted Troy at the ticket table and gave him a white paper bracelet in exchange for his money. "Have a great night. Next!" Troy's friends near the trophy cases didn't have to wait long for him. Three sets of eyes lit up and three stomaches growled as Zeke appeared with food from the concession stand. Amanda rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Is really all you boys think about is food? We were just eating at Troy's place." she complained but took a nacho out of Chad's hand and nibbled on it anyway. Chad had a look of great offence and grabbed a new chip from the paper container.

"Yeah, those were just crackers. And like fruit and stuff. Do you really expect us to eat fruit?" said the bushy haired boy in a matter-of-fact tone. The three other boys smirked in agreement.

"You can eat later. It's time to dance! Woo, party!" exclaimed the pale girl as she dragged her date into the gym. A few red and white balloons escaped into the lobby when the couple opened the double doors.

"I guess that means more for us." Jason shamelessly took a handful of nachos at the departure of his two friends.

"Hi, Sharpay!" Zeke shouted excitedly at the girl, who had just came from the gym. Jason didn't mind when the carton of nachos was pushed into his hands so that the other boy could wave properly. Troy focused all of his attention to the floor, which had recently been waxed, apperantly.

"Troy! Oh, Troy, when did you get here? We've been here for a while and didn't see you at all. I almost thought you weren't going to come." The blonde girl's heels clicked all the way to the trophy case, her pink dress swayed with each stride.

"Wow, Sharpay, you look... Really, really great." the tallest basketball player did his best to keep his composure and briskly straightened his tie. All of his efforts and words went unnoticed, however.

"So, Troy, I heard you won the game the other day. I so wish I could have been there. Except somebody broke their phone in some freak accident or whatever, and I just had to take them to get a new one." The blonde rolled her eyes at the predicament. Troy observed how the black pants and silver shirt clung to her twin beside her.

"It was the whole team, actually. We're all pretty good." responded Troy, gesturing to Jason and Zeke, who were grateful.

"Oh. Well, be sure to tell me all about it! And also, Troy, dance with me sometime tonight?" Sharpay asked. Zeke's heart quivered when she batted her long, mascara drenched eyelashes.

"Um, yeah...maybe. We'll see." Troy gave a reassuring nod, even though he definitely didn't want to see.

"Anyway, my song is on! Toodles!" the blonde girl happily clicked away from the trio, with her brother right behind her.

"Tootles!" said Zeke, much too loudly in Troy's opinion. The brown haired boy rested his face in his hands. A cool breath whisped at his fingers as he let out a sigh from his nostrils.

The gym door opened and closed with a 'clunk' as the Evans twins entered the gymnasium. Dancing shadows flickered in neon coloured lights coming from an electric disco ball, the rest of the large room was dark and pulsing. Loud music vibrated through everyone's bones as they danced to the beat. Ryan and Sharpay marched forcibly into the crowd to get the the middle of the floor.

"Move aside, peasants. Your queen has arrived." Sharpay insisted upon her oblivious subjects at the time she got to the middle of the action.

"You know, sis," Ryan said over her shoulder, pausing to wet his lips "since you're just a juniour, the most they'll make you is princess." the boy backed up when his sister pushed an intimidating finger in front of his face.

"Geeze, Ryan, why do you have to be so technical?" she pouted, though not quite making a scene. Her brother was at loss for speach. His eyes casted around aimlessly, lips parted, however not quite forming words. Sharpay's frustrated grunt couldn't be heard from over the music, so she decided to dance. Then she got an idea. "Hey, Ryan. Do you know if that composer boy is here?"

"Who, you mean Andre?" the blond boy held the brim of his blue hat when he ducked down to hear his sister better.

"Yeah, him. Go find him for me. Oh, and get me a water, too. I'm parched." demanded Sharpay with a sly smile on her face. She then quickly delved into the crowd to dance.

"What, why?" Ryan wasn't surprised as much as he was annoyed that his twin didn't answer him. He sighed and made to leave the gym, looking for Andre on his way out. Concurrently, Chad and Amanda were back at the trophy cases trying to pursuay Troy, Jason, and Zeke to go and dance.

"Okay, okay, fine." Troy said with a smile, waving his hands in defeat. Amanda cheered out and led the group into the packed gym. Troy took a moment to get a drink of water, and to make sure his mom wasn't around before fixing his hair. He then realized that his friends had left him. They could have been anywhere inside the dark, crowded room. The junior rushed to the door and pulled it open, at the same time someone had pushed it to leave. "Ah, sorry." Troy apologized fast while helping the boy catch his balance. Ryan, whose cheeks were flushed, momentarily shown a bijou smile at Troy. The two boys stayed like this until Ryan felt someone push at his back to use the door.

"Sorry." Ryan hesitated for a second, and let his eyes dart to the floor, and rapidly walked out of the doorway. Troy thought that seemed more exciting than dancing with his friends, but went on to find them anyway. Ryan tapped his legs with his hands to the faint sound of music as he waited in line for water. He decided to get his money out so that he wouldn't be the one to hold the line up. Soon, he was at the head of the line and placed three dollars on the counter. "Two waters, please." the server had their back turned and was already at the cooler.

"Coming right up!" a familiar voice replied. The boy filled two small plastic cups with water and placed them on the counter. "That will be two fifty." He took the three dollars over to the cash register to get the proper change, but Ryan stopped him.

"You can keep the change, Andre." Ryan said casually, before fully realizing who he was talking to. "...Andre! What are you doing here? Never mind that, my sister is looking for you."

"Thanks for the death sentence." replied Andre in complete monotone. The tan boy asked a fellow student behind the counter to cover for him, and then joined Ryan with the drinks. Water sloshed in the two cups as the boys walked. "So what does Sharpay need me for?" Andre asked, curious but not too optimistic on what the answer could be.

"I'm not too sure. But knowing my sister, it's probably something..." they passed a teacher chaperone, the blond boy stopped talking and took a drink from one of the cups as they walked. Lights shown through the aperture, as it opened cool air flooded out. Now not only did they have to find Sharpay, but they also had to keep the water balanced as they swerved through the dancing masses. Ryan caught a brief glimpse of Troy dancing with his friends. Ryan was surprised to some degree at how good of a dancer Troy was. 'Wow, he could be a professional. ' he thought. The blond was so lost in thought that Andre had to pull him around a group of people he had almost walked into.

"Heh, thanks." he tried to shout over the music to Andre. Being embarrassed, he looked more at his surroundings. Bodies glowed and swayed under the moving lights. Streamers and balloons caught and warped reflections. There were no signs of Sharpay. The two boys continued on, and almost resorted to walking the parameter of the room. At last, they had found her, walking away from Mrs. Bolton.

"So, guess who's a chaperone here." She paused to take the cup of water from Andre. "And guess who told me where to find the homecoming ballot box. " Sharpay's voice grew more and more devious as she went on. The blonde took her composer by the arm and walked him away from the crowd. "I need you to do something for me..."

Ryan stopped the duo in their tracks and spoke up. "Um, the last time you had someone do something for you, you got detention for a week. What if you get caught again? The fall musical is next Friday and your understudy has two left feet. I can't dance with someone who has two left feet!" Sharpay scoffed, pushing him away.

"Cool it, Ryan. I promise everything will be fine, if you just keep your mouth shut!" the blonde walk furiously away, this time making sure only Andre was in earshot.

"I need to go dance." Because dancing helped Ryan with everything in life. He took deep breaths to calm down. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth. The tall boy strided to the floor to show everyone what dancing really looked like.

Troy and Chad and the reast of the group stuck near the other jocks, but not too close. They were occasionally invited to groups of other popular students, and dancing with them was fun, but they always gravitated back to their original spot. After a few songs of jumping up and down, or swaying side to side, they became bored and decided to show off their "best dance moves".

"...and the windmill, and the sprinkler!" said Chad as he obnoxiously demonstrated his favourite moves from 80's movies. "Hey, Jason, your turn. Show us what you got." he lightly pushed Jason by the shoulder, almost as a challenge. The short boy stretched his arms out in front of him, flipped his right hand over, and then left hand. He went on to grab his left shoulder with his right hand, followed by the opposite with his left. Zeke interrupted when Jason started to wiggle his hips a few moves later.

"Dude... Are you doing the macarena?" Everyone was puzzled, but slowly caught on. Jason stopped dancing and shuffled slightly.

"...Yeah... It's the only dance I know." mumbled Jason.

"Right on!" Troy said, hi-fiving his friend. Most everyone was laughing and having a good time. Chad jumped to the center of the small group, breaking everyone up and getting their attention.

"No way. Jason, you need to learn cool dance moves. Like the air guitar... and the head bang!" curly locks bounced all over as Chad violently shook his head up and down.

"Slow down, wildcat. I think you're the one who needs to learn dance moves, the good kind. Come with me and I'll teach you some." said Amanda to Chad with a wink. She ran her pale fingers lightly down one of his arms, grabbing his hand at the end. Zeke and Jason covered their mouths, stifling laughs with no succession.

Chad heard his best friend call out "Be sure to invite us to the wedding!" The remaining three friends danced closer to the others groups with Chad and Amanda gone. It almost felt a little weird for Troy, not having his best friend near by. The trio did manage to have fun, but not as much as when Chad was there. Mrs. Bolton approached her son and his friends, cup of water in hand.

"Hi, boys! How's the night?" she asked cheerily. They shrugged at first response. Troy rubbed the back of his neck, trying to subdue his embarrassment.

"It's okay... Fun. You're probably not enjoying though. All this music is after your time." Troy said playfully. His friends were impressed with how much he could get away with. His mother gave him a stern, but understanding look.

"Watch it, young man. ...Where's Chad and Amanda?" She looked around for the two students, not noticing the giggles and fake coughs coming from Zeke and Jason.

"Oh, um... They went to go get some water." replied her son, confident that she would believe him.

"Oh. Will they be back soon? I wanted to get some pictures." Mrs. Bolten said as she gestured to her camera. Troy wanted to tell her that it was way too dark to take pictures, and flash never helped things look good, but he knew arguing was pointless. He tried looking at his watch. The combination of darkness and faint neon light reflecting off the glass face made it difficult to see.

"Uh, no. Chad texted me saying that the line was pretty long. They'll still be ,." His mother slumped at the news.

"Well that's a shame. I'll just come back later, you boys a fun!" she ended on a happy note and waved to the small group. The three boys waved back as she left, watching her disappear into the crowd. They all hoped she wouldn't find Chad and Amanda.

The music continued for a while, with everyone dancing however they pleased. The balloons, streamers, and plastic cups that littered the floor got even more scattered when Cotton Eyed Joe went through the speakers. Murmurs of excitement and detest jumbled together, everyone pushed one another trying to form rows, or to get to the sidelines. Zeke spent the majority of the song teaching Jason the dance, while Troy watched from the side. Near the end of the song, Chad joined Troy at the wall. Amanda's purple dress swayed and wrinkled up as she ran to join Zeke and a confused Jason in the dance.

"Hey, man." Troy said with a content smile. Chad smiled back and leaned against the wall, putting one of his feet up behind him.

"Hey." The pair stood there in silence while watching their friends, both untroubled with not talking. Instead of going on to the next song, the music slowly died. Troy saw Ryan, or rather the backside of Ryan, walk from the centre to join his sister and a friend. Conversation grew louder, and more people left the floor when principal Matsui walked up with a microphone.

"Good evening, students and chaperones. I hope you are having a nice dance so far. With less than an hour left, we have decided it's time for the part you've all been waiting for. It's time to announce the homecoming king and queen! We will go in order of freshman to seniors. If you hear your name called, please come up here to receive your crown. Please hold your applause until the last senior has been given their crown. Afterwards, the king and queen will share a dance." Mr. Matsui paused for a moment, letting the tension and excitement build. He walked to the back of the gym to a fold out table where eight crowns varying in size rested. Each crown had a small queue card in front of it, Mr. Matsui took the queue card from the smallest crown first.

"Okay, alright everyone, settle down. ...This year's homecoming Duke is..." Troy and Chad never really paid attention to this part. They always preferred to make snide remarks about the nominees. A tall brown haired boy and lean black haired girl were called up for Duke and Duchess, respectively. To Troy's right, Zeke was still trying to teach Jason the Cotton Eyed Joe dance. Chad snorted and rolled his eyes when it was pointed out. To Troy's left, passed Chad, Amanda was discussing basketball with a fellow cheerleader. He could tell it was about some kind of throw by the way she was moving her hands. The applause died down once again as another person got called up. A stout woman at the table congratulated them and placed a flimsy crown on their head. The four remaining crowns were bigger and sturdier looking. They shown silver and gold in the dim gymnasium lights, which had been turned up for the event.

"And the homecoming Prince for this year is... Troy Bolton!" 'No.' thought Troy. He looked around trying to hide his panic. His friends pushed him forward and jocks cheered him on. Die Brünette walked up to Mr. Matsui and the crown giver, who he could now see was the maths teacher Mrs. Brunswick, with dignity. Being up there also made the spotlight more apperant. The boy calmed down enough to appreciate being nominated for Prince as he shook hands with the two adults. He stood in line next to the other nominees after he got his crown, and waited to find out who his Princess would be.

"...Sharpay Evans!" said the principal. Sharpay, and most of the drama department squealed.

"Thank you, Andre!" whispered the princess to the ceiling, as if Andre was a god in the heavens.

"You're welcome, Sharpay." he spoke up from beside her. From her other side, Ryan gave her a congratulatory hug.

Sharpay walked quickly with delight, as fast as her dress and heels would let her. She took a moment to curtsey and blow kisses to the audience, who gave her more applause in return. She thanked Mrs. Brunswick for the tiara and immediately clung to Troy's arm, still waving to some of her admirers.

"So, looks like we get to dance together after all." the blonde girl said to her prince, her large smile gleaming. Oh joy. Time seemed to slow down in the athlete's dismay. He wanted it to be over, and he was dreading the dance. Couldn't he be the prince without being the prince?

After what seemed like centuries, the King and Queen were presented with their crowns and began to dance to a slow song. Troy recognized both of them from different sports teams. Camera flashes lit up from spots in the crowd, Troy hoped the none if them belonged to his mother's camera. Mr. Matsui gave him the okay to join them with Sharpay. The took a deep breath and swallowed his pride. The audience seemed to think they were a cute couple, their cheering magnified.

The pair swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the music and danced in circles around the king and queen. Soon all of the nominated couples were dancing in the middle of the room. Cameras continued to go off all around them, keeping Troy distracted. He just had to last this one song, he could do it.

Inside the crowd, Ryan nudged Andre with his elbow. "I'm not really sure what you did, but thanks for making my sister happy."

"Hey, it's not like a really had a choice." he replied jokingly. " And if you want to meet me after school sometime, I can help you with her understudy. " Ryan chuckled and reflected Andre's smile.

"Eh, " the boy shrugged, still smiling. "I'm sure I can handle whatever happens. The theatre isn't for everyone, so maybe it's for the best. ...Thanks, though. Can you keep an eye on my sister? I need to go use the boy's room." Ryan tilted his head and fixed his hat, leaving Andre and the dance floor behind after receiving a firm nod from his friend.

More couples approached the floor as the song played on. Boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, and chaperones all danced to the slow piano tune, which was most likely about a breakup or death or something. Troy took one of Sharpay's hands and spun her around, the frills of her pink dress created an admittedly lovely twirl. She spun back into his arms and gripped tighter on Troy's right hand.

"I like your ring, Troy. You know, some day I want to have one almost just like it." Sharpay stated with a flirtatious expression. Troy gulped and tried not to make too much eye contact with the girl. 'The song's almost over, I can do this.'

"That's...nice." Troy spun her around again, the farther away she was, the better. The closer the end of the song became, the tighter Sharpay clung to him. He felt as though death itself was pulling him down. In the last final notes of the song, Sharpay stared possessively into the boy's eyes and pulled him closer.

"Uh...um, I need to pee. I'll be right back, Sharpay!" Troy broke free of her grip just in time, taking more than a few steps back. The blonde scowled as Troy walked away from her.

"Meet me by the photographer!" she shouted through the populace.

Once out of sight, Troy took off his crown and ran his fingers through his hair, sighing deeply. He caught sign of Zeke and quickly gave the crown to him, with no further explanation. Troy compared going through the bathroom doors to making a home run.

He heard another song start up outside, even over the water when he turned the faucet on. The boy took a moment to examine himself in the mirror, now having a properly look at his hair. Past his reflection, he saw Ryan Evans leaning on the counter on the opposite wall. Troy lightly splashed his face with water before turning the faucet off.

"Hey, Ryan." he turned to face the other boy, who then slid off the counter. "I would have thought you of all people would be out there having a good time. What's up?"

The blond boy shrugged. "Slow dancing isn't really my thing. Plus I don't have anyone to dance with." Troy didn't buy it for a second.

"Well you're definitely better than me. Do you know how many times I stepped on Sharpay's feet out there?" Troy leaned against the sinks. Since no one else was in the bathroom, he wouldn't be in anyone's way.

"You looked fine to me. I mean, it look like you were dancing well." both boys chuckled.

"That's good then. But really, I don't really know how to dance. Can you teach me?" Troy habitually flashed a charming smile at the other boy, who blushed.

"R-really?" asked Ryan while taking small steps towards the other boy. Troy took less shy steps towards him, creating a smaller gap.

"Yeah, absolutely. So, um... Where do I put my hands?" He asked with a light chuckle. Ryan was momentarily lost in the boys eyes, but then snapped out of it by remembering where they were.

"Oh! Um...let's see. Let's not do a waltz. We don't really have the space for that. Let's just do a simple slow dance. So, you can just put both of your hands on my waist, and I'll put my hands on your shoulders. Is that okay?" Troy kindly obliged by placing his hands on Ryan's waist. The shorter boy nodded and rested his own hands gently on Troy's shoulders.

"Alright, so listen to the music's tempo. Find the beat and start out by swaying, don't move your feet yet." continued Ryan. He and Troy swayed together, slowly getting more comfortable.

'I'm quiet, you know  
You make a first impression  
Well, I've found I'm scared to know  
I'm always on your mind'

"Like this?" Troy asked self consciously. Ryan ducked his head to hide his smile.

"Yeah. you don't have to try so hard, Troy. You're a professional." Ryan said as he tapped of of his feet.

"Seriously?" there's no way Troy could be a natural at anything other than sports, at least that's what he thought.

"Of course you are. Now, watch my feet if you have to. We're going to take about three or four steps backwards and fforwards. Kindof like waltzing, but not so... precise or formal." Ryan started by taking one step back, then Troy took the lead.

'Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the doubt that fills my mind  
I finally find  
You and I collide.'

Troy easily got the hang of it, and soon he didn't have to look at Ryan's feet. Both boys were comfortable in each others arms. They didn't need to think about it, they just danced and it felt natural.

'Don't stop here  
I lost my place  
I'm close behind'

Ryan rested his head on the athlete's chest, Troy didn't protest or feel awkward. Instead, he rested his hand on the back of Ryan's head, entwining his fingers in his hair.

'Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills your mind  
You finally find  
You and I collide'

The two boys still danced after the song ended, their swaying casually slowed to a stop. Even still, they held each other, comfortable and content. Ryan reluctantly left Troy's arms, remembering that someone could walk in on them at any moment.

"See, Troy, slow dancing isn't that hard. You've got it." Ryan could no longer hide his red face from the other boy, and shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

"I guess you're right. You still helped me out, though, thanks. And you're not too bad yourself." Troy said as they smiled at each other. A loud collective gasp could be heard coming from the gym. Troy and ran walked quickly out of the bathroom to see what had happened.

"Move out the way. Move, I'm a doctor!" Mrs. Bolton frantically pushed through the students surrounding a body that had fallen. Another chaperone appeared beside her. "Call 911!" She shouted over her shoulder. With the person still unconscious, Mrs. Bolton checked their pulse, heartbeat, and breathing pattern.

"Go on, leave, there's nothing to see here! Go back to dancing." Mr. Matsui broke the crowd up and offered to help Mrs. Bolton. "The ambulance is on their way, Mrs. Bolton." he informed her. The student started to awaken, Mrs. Bolton encouraged them to move slowly.

"Have someone get me some saltine crackers and ginger ale, sir." she told the principal while helping the young boy up. "Slowly now, easy. That's it. What's your name, young man?" another chaperone came by to help walk the boy out of the gym.

"I'm Marcus. I feel dizzy." he replied while holding his head.

"I'm a doctor, Marcus. My name is Mrs. Bolton and we're going to get you feeling better, okay? You said you're dizzy, how else do you feel? When was the last time you ate?" the two chaperones and student made it to the gym lobby without much problem.

"Um, I think I have a headache. And I'm a little hungry. " replied the pale boy. Lucille noticed his hands were trembling.

"Has this happened before? When was the last time you ate?" She asked and helped him sit down.

"No, this is the first time. Honestly... I ate a few days ago. Marcus said ssheepishly. Lucille couldn't hide her worry. This could of happened to her son.

"It's probably low blood sugar, then. I need you to sit up and bring your knees to your chest, and rest your head between your knees. It'll help you feel better. Someone's bringing you some crackers and ginger ale before the ambulance gets here. We've called your parents and they'll pick you up at the hospital." the older woman saw Mr. Matsui move nearer to them, and took the food and drink to offer is to Marcus.

"Am I gonna be okay?" He asked, after taking a sip of ginger ale. Lucille smiled and handed him a cracker.

"You are going to be fine. I promise. Just make sure to eat regularly and drink plenty of water." Mr. Matsui walked outside to guide the paramedics. "Hey, Marcus, what grade are you in?" the young boy kind of reminded her of her own son.

"Oh, I'm just a freshman. You could probably tell, though." Marcus sat the cup down next to him when he was done with its contents and ate more crackers. Mrs. Bolton chuckled.

"Must be some start for high school, huh?" she asked as she saw the principal return with the paramedics and a stretcher.

"That's one way to put it." they both smiled together for one last time before Marcus was brought to the ambulance. He let her keep some of the crackers. She sat in front of the trophy cases for a while before Troy came along and sat beside her.

"It's funny that I thought I could have a night off from work and spend it with you, and try to be the 'cool mom'." Mrs. Bolton confessed.

"You were pretty cool, though, mom. How you rushed in to help that kid you didn't even know. That's cool to me. And I bet he's grateful, too." replied Troy, honestly. He took a cracker from his mom and ate the corners.

"Thanks, Troy. That really means a lot." his mother placed a comforting hand on his knee. Not a second later she removed it and snapped her fingers. "Shoot!"

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, finishing the cracker.

"I forgot to get pictures of you and Sharpay!" her son was happy from the news.

"Mom, it's totally okay, really." he assured her with wide eyes.

"Where did you go off to, anyway?" she asked, remembering that she hadn't seen him since then.

"Oh, I just really had to use the bathroom." Troy lightly blushed.

"Huh, alright." she patted both of their legs and got up from the bench. "Want to get going?"

"Sure. I already said bye to everyone." Almost everyone. He got up from the bench as well and walked with his mother, with sore feet, to their car.

—

"So what happened between you and Amanda at the dance?" Troy asked Chad in his backyard basketball court. He passed the ball to his friend, who then shot a basket. Chad dribbled it before passing it back to Troy.

"Nothing. Like, she seriously taught me how to dance. The Moonwalk. How lame is that?" Chad's eyebrows couldn't go any higher. Troy smiled and dribbled around the court.

"Well... She seems nice. Are you two, like, dating?" asked Troy. The basketball smacked the pavement after going through the hoop, and once more before the other boy took it.

"I don't even know, man!" he sighed in irritation, and threw the ball at the chain fence. It recoiled quickly to his feet, afore Troy picked it up. "I really like her though, and that's the weird part." he gestured for the basketball, Troy complied good-naturedly, with a puzzled look on his face.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, while he watched Chad shoot a basket flawlessly.

"I don't have time for girls. I gotta focus on the game." plainly replied Chad. "I can't be trying to make some girl happy and also get that scholarship. You know how it is."

Troy frowned diagonally and focused at the ground. "...Yeah." he said reluctantly. Instead of throwing the ball to the hoop, Chad tossed it to Troy in order to get his attention. Troy didn't really know how it was, but he wanted his friend to be happy. There were plenty of guys on the basketball team who had girlfriends and the potential to get a scholarship. So why couldn't Chad?

"Hey, is there a girl you like or something? What's up?" Chad would do this to Troy sometimes; think he had some kind of brotherly intuition and know exactly what Troy was thinking, and really be assuming something completely wrong. Troy found it a bit humourus, if not annoying.

"Oh, no, that's not it." the junior replied, surprised that his best friend would even think that. However, he did his best to act normal. The brunette passed the ball to Chad, daring him to take his best shot. Chad looked relived.

"Good. We can't lose you to some girl. You're the team captain this year, there's more important things than dating." Chad responded seriously. Troy didn't really bother to say anything afterwards, which wasn't a problem for his friend. The pair decided to play more competitively with each other; by sprinting, and dodging, and blocking. Mr. Bolton heard the sportive racket and joined them not long after.

—

Trees and people lined the green plot of land, quietly observing the player on the short grass. Birds and frogs chirped in the distance, accompanied by hares running through the brush. It was considered a nice autumn afternoon for the last week of October, clear skies and little breeze. Almost the perfect weather for golf. One of the commentators chimed in from behind a long table, keeping a close eye on the monitors. Only the last two holes were occupied now.

"Here's Brown on the eighth hole, a very nice put right into the whole. ...Now his partner, Bolton, also on the eighth hole. He's been very resilient during this game. And he putts it...just past the hole.

"South High's Williams is on the ninth hole. Wow! A very strong swing, right into the hole. Impressive. Now South High's Morton on the ninth, putting for par. ...He leaves it a few inches short. Now he'll just have to tap it gently to get it in. He might want to switch clubs.

"Brown is still on the eighth... He putts the ball. And with a final tap he settles for bogie. Troy Bolton... A good putt that drops right in. East High's last pair moves on to the final hole. " Moniter lights flicker around the commentator, whose microphone picks up the loud echo of a lawn mower.

Players shake hands, switch golf clubs, and move around. The South High players, a boy and a girl, leave the ninth hole to make room for Troy and Henry. They join their teammates and the audience, receiving praise and claps for such a good game. South High was winning with the fewest points, and Chad and Mr. Bolton were there to witness it. Troy was glad he wasn't trying to get a golf scholarship. Even though he brought the golf team to the the championship, his score was abysmally high. Now if he could just get a hole in one like Morton did, and the ball over the sand trap and the bottom of the hill; he might feel better about himself. The middle-aged commentator's microphone screeched with feedback for a moment.

"Meanwhile, on the ninth tee box, Bolton's drive goes a bit to the right. His ball makes it over that nasty sand trap, and lands on the green. He has a few feet between his ball and the hole." Troy wipes his brow as he steps to the side so that his partner can putt. He smiles at the audience when he hears Chad and his dad cheer him on. They were cheering him on even though they knew East Night was going to lose. Henry Brown putted twice, both times his ball landed behind Troy's, meaning he could still hit it at least once more before it was Troy's turn again.

"Brown putts it right into the hole with a nice solid swing, ending his round. Now it's up to Bolton to end the game. Let's see what he gives us." Henry picked up his ball from the hole and walked over to the crowd, leaving Troy with the field, his club, and a single golf ball. The tan boy exhaled deeply through his mouth before stepping up to his ball. Another rabbit swiftly darted across the line of trees, and a few birds had perched on a small wooden bridge behind the current game, closer to the seventh hole. Troy brings his club back with silence.

"Troy Bolton putts it in, finishing his round, and the game. Here's the final score; South High's Jackie Stone is in the lead with a strong twenty, followed by one of her teammates, Mike Williams with twenty three, and East High's James Waker with twenty eight. Now for the team's scores... South High wins with one hundred and sixty four, and East High has one hundred and eighty four." the commentators began to turn off the monitors and fold up the table and chairs. The two coaches shook hands and made small talk until it was time to go.

Birds could be heard over the conversations of the team and prior audience members alike. Mr. Bolton and Chad walked up Troy as he was organizing his golf clubs in their bag.

"Nice game, Troy." His father said with a pat on the back. Chad grabbed the sack of golf balls from the ground.

"I don't know what game you were watching, but thanks." he replied, trying to smile.

"I know I can be hard on you sometimes, but it's not always about winning. It's important to have fun, too. We all have off games sometimes. " Jack tried to reassure his son, then Chad decided to chime in.

"Yeah, man, like that b-ball game the other day. You were awesome! Jason tried to score but he tripped or whatever and you caught the ball out of nowhere and did a slam dunk! It was so cool." Troy recalled the basketball game against Sandia High two days before. They won, thanks to him, and were one step closer to the championship.

"Yeah...you two are right. Thanks." he sincerely replied. Chad handed him the golf ball sack, which then Troy zipped away in a side pocket on the golf club case.

"Now let's get home, Mom's making burgers. There's gonna be plenty of extra if you wanna stay for dinner, Chad. " Mr. Bolton said, guiding the boys towards the car.

"Sure, that'd be great. Thanks, Mr. Bolton. Hey, Troy, do you need any help with that?" Chad turned around to point at the large golf bag Troy was dragging.

"No thanks, I got it." he replied, shrugging. The case made a hard sound as they reached the paved parking lot, so Troy hoisted it up on his shoulder.

"Cool. ...I call shotgun!" Chad said suddenly, and made a beeline for the car. This caught his friend off guard, who secured the golf bag tighter under their arm as they began to chase him. Troy's dad chuckled at the boys acting like young brothers.


End file.
